Qass. 
Book. 


UNCL. 

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i 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


.-  (  I 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINLySTA 


C971.C2 

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CAMP  COURT  AND  SIEGE 


A  NARRATIVE  OF  PERSONAL  ADVENTURE  AND 
OBSERVATION  DURING  TWO  WARS 

1861-1865        1870-1871 


By  WICKHAM   HOFFMAN 

ASSISTANT  ADJ. -GEN.  U.  S.  VOLS,    AND  SECRETARY  U.  S.  LEGATION  AT  PARIS 


NEW    YORK 
HARPER   &    BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE 

1877 

1    Ci   ^  ^ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877,  by 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Ie  Exchanqre 
American  Univoratf 


NOV  ^"   1933 


Nil 


JDcbuation. 

TO 

The  Hon.  E.  B.  WASHBUKNE, 

MINISTER   OF  THE   U.  S.  AT   PARIS, 

THESE     PAGES     ARE     CORDIALLY     DEDICATED, 

IN    ADMIRATION    OF    THE    STERLING    QUALITIES    OF    MANHOOD 

DISPLAYED    BY    HIM    DURING   THE   DARK   DAYS    OF  THE   SIEGE 

AND     COMMUNE,     AND     IN     RECOLLECTION     OF     MANY 

PLEASANT  HOURS  PASSED   TOGETHER  DURING 

AN    OFFICIAL     CONNECTION     OF 

NEARLY   SIX  YEARS. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Hatteras. —  "Black  Drink." — Fortress  Monroe. —  General  Butler. — 
Small-pox. — "  L'Isle  des  Chats." — Lightning. — Farragut. — Troops 
land. — Surrender  of  Forts Page  1 1 


CHAPTER  II. 

New  Orleans. — Custom-house. — Union  Prisoners. — The  Calaboose. — 
"  Them  Lincolnites." — The  St.  Charles. — "  Grape-vine  Telegraph." 
— New  Orleans  Shop-keepers.  —  Butler  and  Soule.  —  The  Fourth 
Wisconsin. — A  New  Orleans  Mob. — Yellow  Fever 23 


CHAPTER  III. 

Vicksburg. —  River  on  Fire. —  Baton  Rouge. —  Start  again  for  Ticks- 
burg. — The  Hartford. — The  Canal. — Farragut. — Captain  Craven. — 
The  ArJcansas. — Major  Boardman. — The  Arkamas  runs  the  Gaunt- 
let.— Malaria 35 


CHAPTER  n^. 

Sickness. — Battle  of  Baton  Rouge. — Death  of  Williams. — "  Fix  Bay- 
onets !" — Thomas  Williams. — His  Body. — General  T.  W.  Sherman. 
— Butler  relieved. — General  Orders,  No.  10. — Mr.  Adams  and  Lord 
Palmerston. — Butler's  Stvle 47 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

T.  W.  Sherman.  —  Contrabands.  —  Defenses  of  New  Orleans.  —  Ex- 
change of  Prisoners. — Amenities  in  War. — Port  Hudson. — Recon- 
noissance  in  Force. — The  Fleet. — Our  Left. — Assault  of  May  27th. 
— Sherman  wounded. — Port  Hudson  surrenders Page  59 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Major-general  Franklin.  —  Sabine  Pass.  —  Collision  at  Sea.  —  March 
through  Louisiana. — Rebel  Correspondence. — "The  Gypsy's  Was- 
sail."— Rebel  Women. — Rebel  Poetry. — A  Skirmish. — Salt  Island. 
— Winter  Climate. — Banks's  Capua.— Major  Joseph  Bailey Y4 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Mistakes. — Affair  at  Mansfield. — Peach  Hill. — Freaks  of  the  Imagi- 
nation.— After  Peach  Hill. — General  William  Dwight. — Retreat  to 
Pleasant  Hill.— Pleasant  Hill— General  Dick  Taylor.— Taylor  and 
the  King  of  Denmark. — An  Incident 87 

CHAPTER  Vin. 

Low  Water. — The  Fleet  in  Danger. — We  fall  back  upon  Alexandria. 
— Things  look  Gloomy. — Bailey  builds  a  Dam  in  ten  Days. — Saves 
the  Fleet. — A  Skirmish. — Smith  defeats  Polignac. — L'npopularity 
of  Foreign  Officers.  —  A  Novel  Bridge.  —  Leave  of  Absence. — A 
Year  in  Virginia. — Am  ordered  again  to  Xew  Orleans 98 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Visit  to  Grant's  Head-quarters.  —  His  Anecdotes  of  Army  Life. — 
Banks  relieved. — Canby  in  Command. — Bailey  at  Mobile. — Death  of 
Bailey. — Canby  as  a  Civil  Governor. — Confiscated  Property. — Pro- 
poses to  rebuild  Levees. — Is  stopped  by  Sheridan. — Canby  appeals. 


CONTENTS. 


— Is  sustained,  but  too  late. — Levees  destroyed  by  Floods. — Conflict 
of  Jurisdiction. — Action  of  President  Johnson. — Sheridan  abolishes 
Canby's  Provost  Marshal's  Department. — Canby  asks  to  be  recalled. 
— Is  ordered  to  Washington. — To  Galveston. — To  Richmond. — To 
Charleston. — Is  murdered  by  the  Modocs. — His  Character.  Page  105 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Writer  appointed  Assistant  Secretary  of  Legation  to  Paris. — Pre- 
sented to  the  Emperor. — Court  Balls. — Diplomatic  Dress. — Opening 
of  Corps  Legislatif. — Opening  of  Parliament. — King  of  the  Belgians. 
— Emperor  of  Austria. — King  of  Prussia. — Queen  Augusta. — Em- 
peror Alexander. —  Attempt  to  assassinate  him. — Ball  at  Russian 
Embassy. — Resignation  of  General  Dix 119 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Washburne  appointed  Minister.  —  Declaration  of  War.  —  Thiers  op- 
poses it. — The  United  States  asked  to  protect  Germans  in  France. 
— ^Fish's  Instructions. — Assent  of  French  Government  given. — 
Paris  in  War-paint. — The  Emperor  opposed  to  War. — Xot  a  Free 
Agent. — His  Entourage. — Marshal  Le  Boeuf 134 

CHAPTER  XIL 

Germans  forbidden  to  leave  Paris. — Afterward  expelled. —  Large 
Number  in  Paris. — Americans  in  Europe. — Emperor's  Staff  an  In- 
cumbrance.— French  Generals. — Their  Rivalries. — False  News  from 
the  Front. — Effect  in  Paris. — Reaction. — Expulsion  of  Germans. — 
Sad  Scenes. — Washburne's  Action. — Diplomatic  Service. — Battle  of 
Sedan. — Sheridan  at  Sedan 145 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Revolution  of  September  4th,  1870. —  Paris  en  Fete. —  Flight  of  the 
Empress. — Saved  by  Foreigners. — Escapes  in  an  English  Yacht. — 


CONTENTS. 


Government  of  National  Defense. — Trochu  at  its  Head. — Jules  Si- 
mon.— United  States  recognizes  Republic. — Washburne's  Address. — 
Favre's  Answer. — Efforts  for  Peace. — John  L.  O'SuUivan.  Pagce  159 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Belleville  Demonstrates. — Radical  Clubs, — Their  Blasphemy  and  Vio- 
lence.— Unreasonable  Suspicion. — Outrages. — Diplomatic  Corps, — 
Some  of  them  leave  Paris. — Meeting  of  the  Corps, — Votes  not  to 
Leave, — Embassadors  and  Ministers. — Right  of  Correspondence  in 
a  Besieged  Place. — Commencement  of  Siege,  September  19th. — Be- 
siegers and  Besieged. — Advantages  of  Besieged 170 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Balloons. — Large  Number  dispatched. — Small  Number  lost. — Worth. 
—  Carrier  -  pigeons.  —  Their  Failure.  —  Their  Instincts,  —  Thnca 
"Agony  Column." — Correspondence, — Letters  to  Besieged, — Count 
Solms. — Our  Dispatch-bag, — Moltke  complains  that  it  is  abused, — 
Washburne's  Answer, — Bismarck's  Reply 182 

CHAPTER  XVI, 

Bumside's  Peace  Mission.  —  Sent  in  by  Bismarck.  —  Interview  with 
Trochu.  —  The  Sympathetic  Tear.  —  Question  of  Revictualment.  — 
Failure  of  Negotiations.  —  Point  of  Vanity.  —  Flags  of  Truce.  — 
French  accused  of  Violation  of  Parole.  —  Question  of  the  Francs- 
Tireurs.  —  Foreigners  refused  Permission  to  leave  Paris.  —  Wash- 
burne  insists. — Permission  granted. — Departure  of  Americans. — 
Scenes  at  Creteil 196 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

Mob  seize  Hotel  de  Ville.  —  "Thanksgiving"  in  Paris.  —  Prices  of 
Food. — Paris  Rats, — Menagerie  Meat, — Horse-meat. — Eatable  only 
as  Mince. —  Government  Interference.  —  Sorties.  —  Are  Failures. — 


CONTENTS. 


Le  Bourget  taken  by  French.  —  Retaken  by  Prussians.  —  French 
Naval  Officers.— Belleville  National  Guard. — Their  Poetry. — Blun- 
dering.— Sheridan's  Opinion  of  German  Army Page  207 


CHAPTER  XVm. 

The  National  Guard. — Its  Composition, — The  American  Ambulance. 
— Its  Organization. —  Its  Success. — Dr.  Swinburne,  Chief  Surgeon. 
— The  Tent  System. — Small  Mortality. — Poor  Germans  in  Paris. — 
Bombardment  by  Germans. — Wantonness  of  Artillery-men. —  Bad 
News  from  the  Loire. — "  Le  Plan  Trochu." — St.  Genevieve  to  ap- 
pear.—  Vinoy  takes  Command. —  Paris  surrenders. —  Bourbaki  de- 
feated.— Attempts  Suicide 221 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Election  in  France. — Terms  of  Peace. — Germans  enter  Paris. — Their 
Martial  Appearance.  —  American  Apartments  occupied.  —  Wash- 
burne  remonstrates. — Attitude  of  Parisians. — The  Germans  evac- 
uate Paris.  —  Victualing  the  City.  —  Aid  from  England  and  the 
United  States. — Its  Distribution. — Sisters  of  Charity 234 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Commune. — Murder  of  French  Generals. — The  National  Guard  of 
Order. — It  disbands. — The  Reasons. — FUght  of  the  Government  to 
Versailles. — Thiers. — Attempts  to  reorganize  National  Guard. — An 
American  arrested  by  Commune. — Legation  intervenes. — His  Dis- 
charge.— His  Treatment. — Reign  of  King  Mob. — ^^ Demomtrations 
Facifiques.^^ — Absurd  Decrees  of  the  Commune. — Destruction  of  the 
Vendome  Column 243 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Diplomatic  Corps  moves  to  Versailles.  —  Journey  there  and  back. — 
Life  at  Versailles. — German  Princes, — Battle  at  Clamart. — Unbur- 


•5f 


lo  CONTENTS. 


ied  Insurgents. — Bitterness  of  Class  Hatred. — Its  Probable  Causes. 
— United  States  Post-office  at  Versailles. — The  Archbishop  of  Par- 
is. —  Attempts  to  save  his  Life.  —  "Washburne's  Kindness  to  him. 
— Blanqui. — Archbishop  murdered. — Ultramontanism. — Bombard- 
ment by  Government. — My  Apartment  struck. — Capricious  Effects 
of  Shells.— Injury  to  Arch  of  Triumph. — Bass-reliefs  of  Peace  and 
War Page  256 


CHAPTER  XXn. 

Reign  of  Terror. — Family  Quarrels. — The  Alsacians,  etc.,  claim  Ger- 
man Xationality. —  They  leave  Paris  on  our  Passes. —  Prisoners  of 
Commune. — Priests  and  Nuns. — Fragments  of  Shells. — "Articles 
de  Paris." — Fearful  Bombardment  of  "Point  du  Jour." — Arrest  of 
Cluseret. —  Commune  Proclamations. —  Capture  of  Paris. —  Troops 
enter  by  Undefended  Gate. —  Their  Slow  Advance. —  Fight  at  the 
Tuileries  Gardens. — Communist  Women. — Capture  of  Barricades. — 
Cruelties  of  the  Troops. —  "  Petroleuses." — Absurd  Stories  about 
them. — Public  Buildings  fired. — Destruction  of  Tuileries,  etc.,  etc. 
— Narrow  Escape  of  Louvre. — Treatment  of  Communist  Prisoners. 
— Presents  from  Emperor  of  Germany 271 


CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

Hatteras. —  "Black  Drink." — Fortress  Monroe. —  General  Butler. — 
Small-pox. — "  L'Isle  des  Chats." — Lightning. — Farragut. — Troops 
land.— Surrender  of  Forts. 

In  February,  1862,  the  writer  of  the  following 
pages,  an  officer  on  the  staff  of  Brigadier  -  general 
Thomas  Williams,  was  stationed  at  Hatteras.  Of  all 
forlorn  stations  to  which  the  folly  and  wickedness 
of  the  Eebellion  condemned  onr  officers,  Hatteras 
was  the  most  forlorn.  It  blows  a  gale  of  wind  half 
the  time.  The  tide  runs  through  the  inlet  at  the 
rate  of  five  miles  an  hour.  It  was  impossible  to  un- 
load the  stores  for  Burnside's  expedition  during 
more  than  three  days  of  the  week.  After  an  easter- 
ly blow — and  there  are  enough  of  them — the  waters 
are  so  piled  up  in  the  shallow  sounds  between  Hat- 
teras and  the  Main,  that  the  tide  ebbs  without  inter- 
mission for  twenty-four  hours. 


12  CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 

Tlie  history  of  Hatteras  is  curious.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  English  navigators  penetrated 
into  those  waters  long  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  at 
Plymouth.  But  the  colony  was  not  a  success.  Of 
the  colonists  some  returned  to  England ;  others  died 
of  want.  The  present  inhabitants  of  the  island  are 
a  sickly,  puny  race,  the  descendants  of  English  con- 
victs. When  Great  Britain  broke  up  her  j)enal  set- 
tlement at  the  Bermudas,  she  transported  the  most 
hardened  convicts  to  Yan  Diemens  Land ;  those  who 
had  been  convicted  of  minor  offenses,  she  turned 
loose  upon  our  coast.  Here  they  intermarried ;  for 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Main  look  down  upon  them  as 
an  inferior  race,  and  will  have  no  social  intercourse 
with  them.  The  effect  of  these  intermarriages  is 
seen  in  the  degeneracy  of  the  race. 

Until  within  a  few  years  their  principal  occupation 
was  wrecking.  Hatteras  lies  on  the  direct  route  of 
vessels  bound  from  the  West  Indies  to  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia,  and  ]S"ew  York.  Tlie  plan  adopted  by 
these  guileless  natives  to  aid  the  storm  in  insuring 
a  wreck  was  simple,  but  effective.  There  is  a  half- 
wild  pony  bred  upon  the  island  called  "  marsh  pony." 
One  of  these  animals  was  caught,  a  leg  tied  up  Ba- 
rey  fashion,  a  lantern  slung  to  his  neck,  and  the  ani- 


BLACK  drink:'  13 


mal  driven  along  the  beach  on  a  stormy  night.  The 
effect  was  that  of  a  vessel  riding  at  anchor.  Otlier 
vessels  approached,  and  were  soon  unjDleasantlj  aware 
of  the  difference  between  a  ship  and  a  marsh  pony. 

The  dwelhngs  bear  witness  to  the  occupation  of 
their  owners.  The  fences  are  constructed  of  ships' 
knees  and  planks.  In  their  parlors  yon  may  see  on 
one  side  a  rough  board  door,  on  the  other  an  exqui- 
sitely finished  rose-wood  or  mahogany  cabin  door, 
with  silver  or  porcelain  knobs.  Contrast  reigns  ev- 
erywhere. 

But  the  j)lace  is  not  without  its  attractions  to  the 
botanist.  A  wild  vine,  of  uncommon  strength  and 
toughness,  grows  abundantly,  and  is  used  in  the 
place  of  rope.  The  iron -tree,  hard  enough  to  turn 
the  edge  of  the  axe,  and  heavy  as  the  metal  from 
which  it  takes  its  name,  is  found  in  abundance,  and 
the  tea-tree,  from  whose  leaves  the  inhabitants  draw 
their  tea  when  the  season  has  been  a  bad  one  for 
wrecks.  This  tea-tree  furnishes  the  ^'  black  drink," 
which  the  Florida  Indians  drank  to  make  themselves 
invulnerable.  They  drank  it  with  due  religious  cer- 
emonies till  it  nauseated  them,  when  it  was  supposed 
to  have  produced  the  desired  effect.  What  a  pity 
that  we  can  not  associate  some  such  charming  super- 


14  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

stition  with  the  maladie  de  mer  !  It  would  so  com- 
fort us  in  our  affliction  ! 

But  we  were  not  to  stay  long  on  this  enchanted 
isle.  Butler  had  organized  his  expedition  against 
Xew  Orleans,  and  it  was  now  ready  to  sail.  He  had 
applied  for  Thomas  Williams,  who  had  been  strongly 
recommended  to  him  by  Weitzel,  Kenzel,  and  other 
regular  officers  of  his  staff.  Early  in  March  we  re- 
ceived orders  to  report  to  Butler  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
We  took  one  of  those  rolling  tubs  they  call  "  propel- 
lers," which  did  the  service  between  the  fortress  and 
Hatteras  for  the  Quartermaster's  Department ;  and, 
after  nearly  rolling  over  two  or  three  times,  we  reach- 
ed Old  Point.  Here  we  found  the  immense  steamer 
the  Constitution^  loaded  with  three  regiments,  ready 
to  sail.  Williams  had  hoped  to  have  two  or  three 
days  to  run  Xorth  and  see  his  wife  and  children, 
whom  he  had  not  seen  for  months.  But  with  him 
considerations  of  duty  were  before  all  others.  He 
thought  that  three  regiments  should  be  commanded 
by  a  brigadier,  and  he  determined  to  sail  at  once. 
It  was  a  disappointment  to  us  all.  To  him  the  loss 
was  irreparable.     He  never  saw  his  family  again. 

It  has  always  appeared  to  me  that  General  Butler 
has  not  received  the  credit  to  whicli  he  is  entitled 


GENERAL   BUTLER.  15 

for  the  capture  of  Kew  Orleans.  Without  him  New 
Orleans  would  not  have  been  taken  in  1862,  and  a 
blow  inflicted  upon  the  Confederacy,  which  the  Lon  • 
don  Times  characterized  as  the  heaviest  it  had  yet 
received  —  "almost  decisive."  The  writer  has  no 
sympathy  with  General  Butler's  extreme  views,  and 
no  admiration  for  his  proteges  ;  but  he  was  cognizant 
of  the  I^ew  Orleans  expedition  from  its  inception, 
he  accompanied  it  on  the  day  it  set  sail,  he  landed 
with  it  in  Xew  Orleans,  he  remained  in  that  city  or 
its  neighborhood  during  the  whole  of  Butler's  com- 
mand ;  and  a  sense  of  justice  compels  him  to  say  that 
Butler  originated  the  expedition,  that  he  carried  it 
through,  under  great  and  unexpected  difficulties, 
that  he  brought  it  to  a  successful  termination,  and 
that  his  government  of  the  city  at  that  time,  and  un- 
der the  peculiar  circumstances,  was  simply  admirable. 
It  is  not  perhaps  generally  known  that  it  was  But- 
ler who  urged  this  enterprise  upon  the  President. 
He  was  answered  that  no  troops  could  be  spared ; 
M'Clellan  wanted  them  all  for  his  advance  upon 
Kichmond.  Butler  thereupon  offered  to  raise  the 
troops  himself,  provided  the  Government  would 
give  him  three  old  regiments.  The  President  con- 
sented.   The  troops  were  raised   in  New  England, 


1 6  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

and  three  old  regiments  —  tlie  Fourth  Wisconsin, 
the  Sixth  Michigan,  and  the  Twenty  -  first  Indiana 
— designated  to  accompany  them.  At  the  last  mo- 
ment M'Clellan  ojDposed  the  departure  of  the  West- 
ern troops,  and  even  applied  for  the  "  Kew  England 
Division."  It  was  with  some  difficulty  that,  appeal- 
ing to  the  President,  and  reminding  him  of  his 
promise,  Butler  was  able  to  carry  out  the  design  for 
which  the  troops  had  been  raised. 

We  sailed  from  Old  Point  on  the  6th  of  March 
with  the  three  regiments  I  have  named.  We  num- 
bered three  thousand  souls  in  all  on  board.  If  any 
thing  were  wanting  at  this  day  to  prove  the  effica- 
cy of  vaccination,  our  experience  on  board  that  ship 
is  sufficient.  We  took  from  the  hospital  a  man  who 
had  been  ill  with  the  small-pox.  He  was  supposed 
to  be  cured.  Two  days  out,  his  disease  broke  out 
again.  The  men  among  whom  he  lay  were  packed 
as  close  as  herring  in  a  barrel,  yet  but  one  took  the 
disease.  They  had  all  been  vaccinated  within  sixty 
days.  I  commend  this  fact  to  the  attention  of  those 
parish  authorities  in  England  who  still  obstinately 
refuse  to  enforce  the  Vaccination  Act. 

Five  days  brought  us,  in  perfect  health,  to  Ship 
Island.     Here  was  another  Ilatteras,  with  a  milder 


''ISLE   OF  CATSy  17 


climate,  and  no  "  black  drink ;"  a  low,  sandy  island 
in  the  Gulf,  off  Mobile.     This  part  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  was  discovered  and  settled  by  the  French. 
They  landed  on  Ship  Island,  and  called  it  "L'Isle 
des  Chats,"  from  the  large  number  of  raccoons  they 
found  there.     Kot  being  personally  acquainted  with 
that  typical  American,  they  took  him  for  a  species  of 
cat,  and  named  the  island  accordingly.     From  Ship 
Island  and  the  adjacent  coast,  which  they  settled,  the 
French  entered  Lake  Borgne  and  Lake  Pontchar- 
train,  and  so  up  the  Amite  Eiver  in  their  boats. 
They  dragged  their  boats  across  the  short  distance 
which  separates  the  upper  waters  of  the  Amite  from 
the  Mississippi,  embarked  upon  the  "  Father  of  "Wa- 
ters," and  sailed  down  the  stream.     Here  they  play- 
ed a  trick  upon  John   Bull ;   for,  meeting  an  En- 
glish fleet  coming  up,  the  first  vessels  that  ever  en- 
tered the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi,  they  boarded 
them,  claimed  to  be  prior  discoverers,  and  averred 
that  they  had  left  their  ships  above.     There  exist- 
ed in  those  days  an  understanding  among  maritime 
nations  that  one  should  not  interfere  with  the  prior 
discoveries  of  another.    The  English  thereupon  turn- 
ed, and  the  spot,  a  short  distance  below  Xew  Orleans, 
is  to  this  day  called  "  English  Turn." 


1 8  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

We  remaiued  at  the  ''Isle  of  Cats''  about  six 
weeks  —  the  life  monotonous  enough.  The  beach 
offered  a  great  variety  of  shell-iish,  devil-fish,  horse- 
shoes, and  sea-horses.  An  odd  thing  was  the  abun- 
dance of  fresh,  pure  water.  Dig  a  hole  two  feet 
deep  anywhere  in  the  sand  on  that  low  island,  ris- 
ing scarcely  five  feet  above  the  sea,  and  in  two  hours 
it  was  filled  with  fresh  water.  After  using  it  a 
week,  it  became  brackish ;  when  all  it  was  necessary 
to  do  was  to  dig  another  hole. 

When  on  Ship  Island,  I  witnessed  a  curious  freak 
of  lightning.  One  night  we  had  a  terrible  thunder- 
storm, such  as  one  sees  only  in  those  southern  lati- 
tudes. In  a  large  circular  tent,  used  as  a  guard-tent, 
eight  prisoners  were  lying  asleep,  side  by  side.  The 
sentry  stood  leaning  against  the  tent  pole,  the  butt 
of  the  musket  on  the  ground,  the  bayonet  against 
his  shoulder.  The  lightning  struck  the  tent -pole, 
leaped  to  the  bayonet,  followed  down  the  barrel, 
tearing  the  stock  to  splinters,  but  only  slightly  stun- 
ning the  sentry.  Thence  it  passed  along  the  ground, 
struck  the  first  prisoner,  killing  him  ;  passed  through 
the  six  inside  men  without  injury  to  them ;  and  off 
by  the  eighth  man,  killing  him. 

Finally,  the   expedition    was    complete.     Stores, 


FARE  A  GUT.  1 9 


guns,  horses,  all  had  arrived.  Butler  became  impa- 
tient for  the  action  of  the  navy.  He  went  to  the 
South-west  Pass,  where  Farragut's  fleet  was  lying, 
and  urged  his  advance.  Farragut  rej)lied  that  he 
had  no  coal.  Butler  answered  that  he  would  give 
liim  what  he  wanted,  and  sent  him  fifteen  hundred 
tons.  He  had  had  the  foresight  to  ballast  his  sail- 
ing ships  with  coal,  and  so  had  an  ample  supply.  A 
week  passed,  and  still  the  ships  did  not  ascend  the 
river.  Again  Butler  went  to  the  Pass,  and  again 
Farragut  said  that  he  had  not  coal  enough  —  that 
once  past  the  forts,  he  might  be  detained  on  the 
river,  and  that  it  would  be  madness  to  make  the  at- 
tempt unless  every  ship  were  filled  up  with  coal. 
Once  again  Butler  came  to  his  aid,  and  gave  him 
three  thousand  tons.  We  were  naturally  surprised 
that  so  vital  an  expedition  should  be  neglected  by 
the  Xavy  Department.  The  opinion  was  pretty 
general  among  us  that  the  expedition  was  not  a  fa- 
vorite with  the  Department,  and  that  they  did  not 
anticipate  any  great  success  from  it.  They  were 
quite  as  surprised  as  the  rest  of  the  world  when 
Farragut  accomplished  his  great  feat. 

At  length  all  was  ready.     The  troops  were  em- 
barked, and  lay  off  the  mouth  of  the  river,  waiting 


CAMP,  COURT,  A. YD  SIEGE. 


for  the  action  of  the  fleet.  Farragut,  after  an  idle 
bombardment  of  three  days  by  the  mortar -boats, 
which  he  told  us  he  had  no  confidence  in,  but  which 
he  submitted  to  in  deference  to  the  opinions  of  the 
Department  and  of  Porter  (the  firing  ceased,  by-the- 
way,  when  it  had  set  fire  to  the  wooden  barracks  in 
Fort  Jackson,  and  might  have  done  some  good  if 
continued),  burst  through  the  defenses,  silenced  the 
forts,  and  ascended  the  river.  It  is  not  my  prov- 
ince to  describe  this  remarkable  exploit.  Its  effect 
was  magical.  An  exaggerated  idea  prevailed  at  that 
time  of  the  immense  superiority  of  land  batteries 
over  ships.  One  gun  on  shore,  it  was  said,  was  equal 
to  a  whole  ship's  battery.  The  very  small  results  ob- 
tained by  the  united  English  and  French  fleets  dur- 
ing the  Crimean  war  were  quoted  in  proof.  Those 
magnificent  squadrons  effected  scarcely  any  thing, 
for  the  capture  of  Bomarsund  was  child's  play  to 
them.  The  English  naval  officers,  proud  of  their 
service  and  its  glorious  history,  were  delightecl  to 
find  that,  when  daringly  led,  ships  could  still  do 
something  against  land  batteries,  and  all  England 
rang  with  Farragut's  exploit. 

The  part  played  l)y  the  army  in  this  affair  was  mi- 
nor, but  still  important.     Our  engineer  officers,  who 


SURRENDER   OF  FORTS.  21 

had  assisted  in  building  forts  St.  Philip  and  Jack- 
son, knew  the  ground  well.  Under  their  guidance 
we  embarked,  first  in  light-draught  gun-boats,  then 
in  barges,  and  made  our  way  through  the  shallow 
waters  of  the  Gulf,  and  up  the  bayou,  till  we  landed 
at  Quarantine,  between  Fort  St.  Philip  and  the  city, 
cutting  off  all  communication  between  them.  As,  in 
the  stillness  of  an  April  evening,  we  made  our  slow 
way  up  the  bayou  amidst  a  tropical  vegetation,  fes- 
toons of  moss  hanging  from  the  trees  and  drooping 
into  the  water,  with  the  chance  of  being  fired  on  at 
any  moment  from  the  dark  swamj?  on  either  side, 
the  effect  upon  the  imagination  was  striking,  and  the 
scene  one  not  easily  forgotten. 

Farragut  had  passed  up  the  river,  but  the  forts 
still  held  out,  and  the  great  body  of  the  troops  was 
below  them.  When,  however,  they  found  them- 
selves cut  off  from  any  chance  of  succor,  the  men  in 
Fort  St.  Philip  mutinied,  tied  their  officers  to  the 
guns,  and  surrendered.  Fort  Jackson  followed  the 
example.  I^o  doubt  our  turning  movement  had  has- 
tened their  surrender  by  some  days.  I  once  suggest- 
ed to  Butler  that  we  had  hastened  it  by  a  week.  ^'A 
month,  a  month,  sir,"  he  replied. 

It  was  here  they  told  us  that  the  United  States 


22  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD   SIEGE. 

flag  had  been  hauled  down  from  the  Mint  by  a  mob 
headed  by  that  scoundrel  Mum  ford,  and  dragged 
through  the  mud.  I  heard  Butler  swear  by  all  that 
was  sacred,  that  if  he  caught  Mumford,  and  did  not 
hang  him,  might  he  be  hanged  himself.  He  caught 
him,  and  he  kept  his  oath.  There  never  was  a  wiser 
act.  It  quieted  Xew  Orleans  like  a  charm.  The 
mob,  who  had  assembled  at  the  gallows  fully  expect- 
ing to  hear  a  pardon  read  at  the  last  moment,  and 
prepared  to  create  a  riot  if  he  were  pardoned,  slunk 
home  like  whijDped  curs. 


NEIV  ORLEANS.  23 


CHAPTEK  II. 

New  Orleans. — Custom-house. — Union  Prisoners. — The  Calaboose. — 
"  Them  Lincolnites."— The  St.  Charles.—"  Grape-vine  Telegraph." 
— New  Orleans  Shop-keepers.  —  Butler  and  Soule.  —  The  Fourth 
Wisconsin. — A  New  Orleans  Mob. — Yellow  Fever. 

On  the  evening  of  the  1st  of  May,  1862,  the  lead- 
ing transports  anchored  off  the  city.  Butler  sent  for 
Williams,  and  ordered  him  to  land  at  once.  Wil- 
liams, like  the  thorough  soldier  he  was,  proposed  to 
wait  till  morning,  when  he  would  have  daylight  for 
the  movement,  and  when  the  other  transports,  with 
our  most  reliable  troops,  would  be  up.  "  No,  sir," 
said  Butler,  "  this  is  the  1st  of  May,  and  on  this  day 
we  must  occupy  New  Orleans,  and  the  first  regiment 
to  land  must  be  a  Massachusetts  regiment."  So  the 
orders  were  issued,  and  in  half  an  hour  the  Thirty- 
first  Massachusetts  Volunteers  and  the  Sixth  Massa- 
chusetts Battery  set  foot  in  New  Orleans. 

As  we  commenced  our  march,  Williams  saw  the 
steamer  Diana  coming  up  with  six  companies  of  the 
Fourth  Wisconsin.     He  ordered  a  halt,  and  sent  me 


24  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

with  instructions  for  tliem  to  land  at  once,  and  fall 
into  the  rear  of  the  column.  I  passed  through  the 
mob  without  difficulty,  gave  the  orders,  and  we  re- 
sumed our  march.  The  general  had  directed  that 
our  route  should  be  along  the  levee,  where  our  right 
was  protected  by  the  gun-boats.  Presently  we  found 
that  the  head  of  the  column  was  turning  up  Julia 
Street.  Williams  sent  to  know  why  the  change  had 
been  made.  The  answer  came  back  that  Butler  was 
there,  and  had  given  orders  to  pass  in  front  of  the 
St.  Charles  Hotel,  while  the  band  played  "  Yankee 
Doodle,"  and  "  Picayune  Butler's  come  to  Town,"  if 
they  knew  it.  They  did  not  know  it,  unfortunately, 
so  we  had  one  unbroken  strain  of  the  martial  air  of 
"  Yankee  Doodle  "  all  the  way. 

Arrived  at  the  Custom-house  late  in  the  evening, 
we  found  the  doors  closed  and  locked.  Williams 
said  to  me,  "  What  would  you  do  ?"  "  Break  the 
doors  open,"  I  replied.  The  general,  who  could  not 
easily  get  rid  of  his  old,  regular-army  habits,  ordered 
"  Sappers  and  miners  to  the  front."  Xo  doubt  the 
sappers  and  miners  thus  invoked  would  have  speed- 
ily appeared  had  we  had  any,  but  two  volunteer  reg- 
iments and  a  battery  of  light  artillery  were  the  ex- 
tent of  our  force  that  night.     I  turned  to  the  adju- 


THE   CUSTOM-HOUSE.  25 

taiit  of  the  Fourth  Wisconsin,  and  asked  if  he  had  any 
axes  in  his  regiment.  He  at  once  ordered  up  two 
or  three  men.  We  found  the  weakest-looking  door, 
and  attacked  it.  As  we  were  battering  it  in,  the  ma- 
jor of  the  Thirty -first  came  up,  and  took  an  axe  from 
one  of  the  men.  Inserting  tlie  edge  in  the  crack 
near  the  lock,  he  pried  it  gently,  and  the  door  flew 
open.  I  said, ''  Major,  you  seem  to  understand  this 
sort  of  thing."  He  replied,  "  Oh  !  this  isn't  the  first 
door  I  have  broken  open,  by  a  long  shot.  I  was  once 
foreman  of  a  fire-company  in  Buffalo." 

We  entered  the  building  with  great  caution,  for 
the  report  had  been  spread  that  it  was  mined.  The 
men  of  the  Fourth  Wisconsin  had  candles  in  their 
knapsacks ;  they  always  had  every  thing,  those  fel- 
lows !  We  soon  found  the  meter,  turned  the  gas  on, 
and  then  proceeded  to  make  ourselves  comfortable 
for  the  night.  I  established  myself  in  the  postmas- 
ter's private  room  —  the  Post-office  was  in  the  Cus- 
tom-house— with  his  table  for  my  bed,  and  a  package 
of  rebel  documents  for  a  pillow.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber what  my  dreams  were  that  night.  We  took  the 
letters  from  the  boxes  to  preserve  them,  and  piled 
them  in  a  corner  of  my  room.  They  were  all  sub- 
sequently delivered  to  their  respective  addresses. 

2 


26  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

Pretty  well  tired  out  with  the  labor  and  excite- 
ment of  the  day,  I  was  just  making  myself  tolerably 
comfortable  for  the  night,  when  the  officer  of  the 
day  reported  that  a  woman  urgently  desired  to  see 
the  general  on  a  matter  of  life  or  death.  She  was 
admitted.  She  told  us  that  her  husband  was  a 
Union  man,  that  he  had  been  arrested  that  day  and 
committed  to  the  "  Calaboose,"  and  that  his  life  was 
in  danger.  The  general  said  to  her,  "  My  good  wom- 
an,! will  see  to  it  in  the  morning."  ''  Oh,  sir,"  she 
replied,  "  in  the  morning  he  will  be  dead !  They 
will  poison  him."  We  did  not  believe  much  in  the 
poison  story,  but  it  was  evident  that  she  did.  Wil- 
liams turned  to  me,  and  said,  "  Captain,  have  you  a 
mind  to  look  into  this?"  Of  course  I  was  ready, 
and  ordering  out  a  company  of  the  Fourth  Wis- 
consin, and  asking  Major  Boardman,  a  daring  offi- 
cer of  that  regiment,  to  accompany  me,  I  started  for 
the  Calaboose,  guided  by  the  woman.  The  streets 
were  utterly  deserted.  IN^othing  was  heard  but  the 
measured  tramp  of  the  troops  as  we  marched  along. 
Arrived  at  the  Calaboose,  I  ordered  the  man  I  was 
in  search  of  to  be  brought  out.  I  questioned  him, 
questioned  the  clerk  and  the  jailer,  became  satisfied 
that  he  was  arrested  for  political  reasons  alone,  or- 


UNION  PRISONERS.  27 

dered  his  release,  and  took  him  with  me  to  the  Cus- 
tom-house, for  he  was  afraid  to  return  home.  Being 
on  the  spot,  it  occurred  to  me  tliat  it  would  be  as 
well  to  see  if  there  were  other  political  prisoners  in 
the  prison.  I  had  the  books  brought,  and  examined 
the  entries.  At  last  I  thought  I  had  discovered  an- 
other victim.  The  entry  read,  "  Committed  as  a  sus- 
picious character,  and  for  holding  communication  with 
Picayune  Butler's  troops."  I  ordered  the  man  before 
me.  The  jailer  took  down  a  huge  bunch  of  keys, 
and  I  heard  door  after  door  creaking  on  its  hinges. 
At  last  the  man  was  brought  out.  I  think  I  never 
saw  a  more  villainous  countenance.  I  asked  him 
what  he  was  committed  for?  He  evidently  did  not 
recognize  the  Federal  uniform,  but  took  me  for  a 
Confederate  officer,  and  replied  that  he  was  arrested 
for  talking  to  "  them  Lincolnites."  I  told  the  jail- 
er that  I  did  not  want  that  man — that  he  might  lock 
him  up  again. 

Having  commenced  the  search  for  political  prison- 
ers, I  thought  it  well  to  make  thorough  work  of  it ; 
so  I  inquired  if  there  were  other  prisons  in  the  city. 
There  was  one  in  the  French  quarter,  nearly  two 
miles  off;  so  we  pursued  our  weary  and  solitary 
tramp  through  the  city.     My  men  evidently  did  not 


28  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

relish  it.  Tlie  prison  was  quiet,  locked  up  for  the 
night.  We  hammered  away  at  the  door  till  we  got 
the  officers  up ;  went  in,  examined  the  books,  found 
no  entries  oi  commitments  except  for  crime ;  put 
the  officers  on  their  written  oaths  that  no  one  was 
confined  there  except  for  crime ;  and  so  returned  to 
our  Post-office  beds. 

The  next  day  was  a  busy  one.  Early  in  the 
morning  I  went  to  the  St.  Charles  Hotel  to  make 
arrangements  for  lodging  the  general  and  his  staff. 
With  some  difficulty  I  got  in.  In  the  rotunda  of 
that  fine  building  sat  about  a  dozen  rebels,  looking 
as  black  as  a  thunder -cloud.  I  inquired  for  the 
proprietor  or  clerk  in  charge,  and  a  young  man  step- 
ped forward  :  ''  Impossible  to  accommodate  us  ;  hotel 
closed  ;  no  servants  in  the  house."  I  said,  "At  all 
events,  I  will  see  your  rooms."  Going  into  one  of 
them,  he  closed  the  door  and  whispered,  "  It  would 
be  as  much  as  my  life  is  worth,  sir,  to  offer  to  ac- 
commodate you  here.  I  saw  a  man  knifed  on  Canal 
Street  yesterday  for  asking  a  naval  officer  the  time 
of  day.  But  if  you  choose  to  send  troops  and  open 
the  hotel  by  force,  why,  we  will  do  our  best  to  make 
you  comfortable."  Keturning  to  the  rotunda,  I 
found  Lieutenant  Biddle,  who  had  accompanied  me 


NEW  ORLEANS  SHOP-KEEPERS.  29 


one  of  tlie  generars  aids— engaged  in  a  hot  dis- 
cussion with  our  rebel  friends.  I  asked  liim  "  What 
use  in  discussing  these  matters?"  and,  turning  to  the 
rebs,  with  appropriate  gesture  said,  "  We've  got  you, 
and  we  mean  to  hold  you."  "  That's  the  talk,"  they 
replied ;  ''  we  understand  thatP  They  told  us  that 
the  rebel  army  was  in  sight  of  Washington,  and  that 
John  Magruder's  guns  commanded  the  Capitol. 
Why  they  picked  out  Magruder  particularly,  I  can 
not  say.  This  news  had  come  by  telegraph.  We 
used  to  call  the  rebel  telegraphic  lines  "the  grape- 
vine telegraph,"  for  their  telegrams  were  generally 
circulated  with  the  bottle  after  dinner. 

The  shop-keepers  in  New  Orleans,  when  we  first 
landed  there,  were  generally  of  the  opinion  of  my 
friend  the  hotel -clerk.  A  naval  officer  came  to  us 
one  morning  at  the  Custom-house,  and  said  that  the 
commodore  wanted  a  map  of  the  river ;  that  he  had 
seen  the  very  thing,  but  that  the  shop-keeper  refused 
to  sell  it,  intimating,  however,  that  if  he  were  com- 
pelled to  sell  it,  why  then,  of  course,  he  couldn't  help 
himself.  We  ordered  out  a  sergeant  and  ten  men. 
The  officer  got  his  map,  and  paid  for  it. 

But  Butler  was  not  the  man  to  be  thwarted  in 
this  way.     Finding  this  jpcirti  pris  on  the  part  of 


30  CAMF,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

the  shop-keepers,  he  issued  an  order  that  all  shops 
must  be  opened  on  a  certain  day,  or  that  he  should 
put  soldiers  in,  and  sell  the  goods  for  account  "of 
whom  it  might  concern."  On  the  day  appointed 
they  were  all  opened.  So,  too,  with  the  newspapers. 
They  refused  to  print  his  proclamation.  An  order 
came  to  us  to  detail  half  a  dozen  printers,  and  send 
them  under  a  staff  officer  to  the  office  of  the  True 
Delta,  and  print  the  proclamation.  We  soon  found 
the  men.  From  a  telegraph  -  operator  to  a  printer, 
bakers,  engine-drivers,  carpenters,  and  coopers,  we 
had  representatives  of  all  the  trades.  This  was  in 
the  early  days  of  the  war.  Afterward  the  men 
were  of  an  inferior  class.  The  proclamation  was 
l^rinted,  and  the  men  then  amused  themselves  by 
getting  out  the  paper.  Kext  morning  it  appeared 
as  usual ;  this  was  enough.  The  editor  soon  came 
to  terms,  and  the  other  journals  followed  suit. 

On  the  2d  of  May  Butler  landed  and  took  quar- 
ters at  the  St.  Charles.  There  has  been  much  idle 
gossip  about  attempts  to  assassinate  him,  and  his 
fears  of  it.  In  regard  to  the  latter,  he  landed  in 
New  Orleans,  and  drove  a  mile  to  his  hotel,  with 
one  staff  officer,  and  one  armed  orderly  only  on  the 
box.     When  his  wife  arrived  in  the  city,  he  rode 


BUTLER  AND  SOULE.  31 

with  one  orderly  to  tlie  levee,  and  there,  surrounded 
bj  the  crowd,  awaited  her  landing.  As  regards  the 
former,  we  never  heard  of  any  well -authenticated 
attempt  to  assassinate  him,  and  I  doubt  if  any  was 
ever  made. 

That  afternoon  Butler  summoned  the  municipal 
authorities  before  him  to  treat  of  the  formal  sur- 
render of  the  city.  They  came  to  the  St.  Charles, 
accompanied  by  Pierre  Soule  as  then'  counsel.  A 
mob  collected  about  the  hotel,  and  became  tur- 
bulent. Butler  was  unprotected,  and  sent  to  the 
Custom-house  for  a  company  of  "Massachusetts" 
troops.  The  only  Massachusetts  troops  there  were 
the  Thirty -first,  a  newly  raised  regiment.  They 
afterward  became  excellent  soldiers,  but  at  that  time 
they  were  very  young  and  very  green.  It  so  hap- 
pened, too,  that  the  only  company  available  was 
composed  of  the  youngest  men  of  the  regiment. 
They  were  ordered  out.  The  officer  in  charge  did 
not  know  the  way  to  the  St.  Charles.  Xo  guide 
was  at  hand,  so  I  volunteered  to  accompany  them. 
We  drew  the  troops  up  on  Common  Street,  and  I 
entered  the  hotel  to  report  them  to  Butler.  I  found 
him  engaged  in  a  most  animated  discussion  with 
Soule.      Both   were    able    and   eloquent   men,   but 


32  CAMF,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

Butler  undoubtedly  got  the  better  of  the  argument. 
Perhaps  the  fact  that  he  had  thirteen  thousand  bay- 
onets to  back  his  opinions  gave  point  to  his  remarks. 
Interrupting  his  discourse  for  a  moment  only,  he 
said,  ''Draw  the  men  up  round  the  hotel,  sir;  and 
if  the  mob  make  the  slightest  disturbance,  lire  on 
them  on  the  spot,"  and  went  on  with  the  discussion. 
Returning  to  the  street,  I  found  the  mob  apostro- 
phizing my  youthful  soldiers  with,  "  Does  your 
mother  know  you're  out  "f  and  like  popular  wit.  It 
struck  me  that  the  inquiry  was  well  addressed.  I 
felt  disposed  to  ask  the  same  question.  I  reported 
the  matter  tt)  Williams,  and  he  thought  that  it  would 
be  well  to  counteract  the  effect.  That  evening  he 
sent  the  band  of  the  Fourth  Wisconsin  to  play  in 
front  of  the  St.  Charles,  with  the  whole  regiment, 
tall,  stalwart  fellows,  as  an  escort.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  mob  had  slunk  away.  An  officer  heard  one 
gamin  say  to  another,  "  Those  are  Western  men, 

and  they  say  they  do  fight  like  h ."     One  of  the 

officers  told  me  that  his  men's  fingers  itched  to  fire. 

I  suppose  that  all  mobs  are  alike,  but  certainly  the 
New  Orleans  mob  was  as  cowardly  as  it  was  brutal. 
When  we  first  occupied  the  Custom-house,  they  col- 
lected about  us,  and  annoyed  our  sentries  seriously. 


A   NEIV  ORLEANS  MOB.  33 

The  orders  were  to  take  no  notice  of  what  was  said, 
but  to  permit  no  overt  act.  I  was  sitting  one  day  in 
my  office,  the  general  out,  when  Captain  Bailey,  the 
officer  who  distinguished  himself  so  much  afterward 
in  building  the  Red  River  dam  —  and  a  gallant  fel- 
low he  was — rushed  in,  and  said,  "Are  we  to  stand 
this  ?"  I  said,  "  What's  the  matter,  Bailey  V  He  re- 
plied that  "  One  of  those  d — d  scoundrels  has  taken 
his  quid  from  his  mouth,  and  thrown  it  into  the  sen- 
try's face."  I  said, "  No ;  I  don't  think  that  we  are 
to  stand  that :  that  seems  to  me  an  '  overt  act.'  Ar- 
rest him."  Bailey  rushed  out,  called  to  the  guard  to 
follow  him,  and,  jumping  into  the  crowd,  seized  the 
fellow  by  the  collar,  and  jerked  him  into  the  lines. 
The  guard  came  up  and  secured  him.  The  mob  fell 
back  and  scattered,  and  never  troubled  us  from  that 
day.  The  fellow  went  literally  down  upon  his 
knees,  and  begged  to  be  let  off.  "We  kept  him  lock- 
ed up  that  night,  and  the  next  day  discharged  him. 
He  laid  it  all  to  bad  whisky. 

As  the  course  of  this  narrative  will  soon  carry  the 
writer  from  E'ew  Orleans  into  the  interior,  he  takes 
this  opportunity  to  say  that  he  has  often  been  as- 
sured by  the  rebel  inhabitants,  men  and  women  of 
position  and  character,  that  never  had  ^N^ew  Orleans 

2-'^ 


34  CAMPy  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

been  so  well  governed,  so  clean,  so  orderly,  and  so 
healthy,  as  it  was  under  Butler.  He  soon  got  rid  of 
the  "Plug-uglies"  and  other  ruffian  bands:  some 
he  sent  to  Fort  Jackson,  and  others  into  the  Confed- 
eracy. There  was  no  yellow  fever  in  New  Orleans 
while  we  held  it,  showing  as  plainly  as  possible  that 
its  prevalence  or  its  absence  is  simply  a  question  of 
quarantine.  (Butler  had  sworn  he  would  hang  the 
health  officer  if  the  fever  got  up.)  Before  we  ar- 
rived there,  the  "back  door,"  as  it  was  called — the 
lake  entrance  to  the  city — was  always  open,  and  for 
five  hundred  dollars  any  vessel  could  come  up.  In 
1861,  when  our  blockade  commenced,  and  during  the 
whole  of  our  occupation,  yellow  fever  was  unknown. 
In  1866  we  turned  the  city  over  to  the  civil  autlior- 
ities.  That  autumn  there  were  a  few  straggling 
cases,  and  the  following  summer  the  fever  was  viru.- 
lent. 


VICKSBURG.  35 


CHAPTER  III. 

Vicksburg. —  River  on  Fire. —  Baton  Rouge. —  Start  again  for  Vicks- 
burg. — The  Hartford. — The  Canal. — Farragut. — Captain  Craven. — 
The  Arkansas. — Major  Boardman. — The  Arkansas  runs  the  Gaunt- 
let.— Malaria. 

Admiral  Faekagut  was  anxious,  after  the  capture 
of  ]^ew  Orleans,  to  proceed  at  once  against  Mobile. 
I  heard  him  say  that,  in  the  panic  excited  by  the 
capture  of  Xew  Orleans,  Mobile  would  fall  an  easy 
prey.  The  Government,  however,  for  political  as 
w^ell  as  military  reasons,  was  anxious  to  open  the 
Mississippi.  Farragut  was  ordered  against  Yicks- 
burg,  and  Williams,  with  two  regiments  and  a  bat- 
tery, was  sent  to  accompany  and  support  him. 
When  one  reflects  upon  the  great  strength  of  Yicks- 
burg,  and  the  immense  resources  it  afterward  took 
to  capture  it,  it  seems  rather  absurd  to  have  sent  us 
against  it  with  two  regiments  and  a  battery.  The 
excursion,  however,  if  it  is  to  be  looked  upon  in  this 
light,  was  delightful.  We  had  two  fine  river  boats. 
The  plantations  along  the  banks  were  in  the  highest 
state  of  cultivation;  the  young  cane,  a  few  inches 


36  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

above  the  ground,  of  tlie  most  lovely  green.  Indeed, 
I  know  no  more  beautiful  green  than  that  of  the 
young  sugar-cane.  Our  flag  had  not  been  seen  in 
tliose  parts  for  over  a  year,  and  the  joy  of  the  ne- 
groes when  they  had  an  opportunity  to  exhibit  it 
without  fear  of  their  overseers  was  quite  touching. 
The  river  was  very  high,  and  as  we  floated  along 
we  were  far  above  the  level  of  the  plantations,  and 
looked  down  upon  the  negroes  at  work,  and  into  the 
open  windows  of  the  houses.  The  effect  of  this  to 
one  unused  to  it  —  the  water  above  the  land  —  was 
very  striking.  Katchez,  a  town  beautifully  situated 
on  a  high  bluff,  was  gay  with  the  inhabitants  who 
had  turned  out  to  see  us.  The  ladies,  with  their 
silk  dresses  and  bright  parasols,  and  the  negro  wom- 
en, with  their  gaudy  colors,  orange  especially,  which 
they  affect  so  much,  and  which,  by-the-way,  can  be 
seen  at  a  greater  distance  than  any  other  color  I 
know  of. 

One  often  hears  of  '^  setting  a  river  on  fire,"  met- 
aphorically speaking:  I  have  seen  it  done  literally. 
The  Confederate  authorities  had  issued  orders  to 
burn  the  cotton  along  the  banks  to  prevent  its  fall- 
ing into  our  hands.  But  as  the  patriotism  of  the 
owners  naturally  enough  needed  stimulating,  vigi- 


HOLDING  A    COUNCIL.  37 

lance  committees  were  organized,  generally  of  those 
planters  whose  cotton  was  safe  at  a  distance.  These 
men  preceded  us  as  we  ascended  the  river;  and 
burned  their  neighbors'  cotton  with  relentless  patri- 
otism. The  burning  material  was  thrown  into  the 
stream,  and  floated  on  the  surface  a  long  time  before 
it  was  extinguished.  At  night  it  was  a  very  beauti- 
ful sight  to  see  the  apparently  flaming  water.  We 
had  to  exercise  some  care  to  steer  clear  of  the  burn- 
ing masses. 

Arrived  opposite  Yicksburg,  we  boarded  the  flag- 
ship to  consult  for  combined  operations.  We  found 
Farragut  holding  a  council  of  his  captains,  consider- 
ing the  feasibility  of  passing  the  batteries  of  Yicks- 
burg as  he  had  passed  the  forts.  We  apologized  for 
our  intrusion,  and  were  about  to  withdraw,  when  he 
begged  us  to  stay,  and,  turning  to  Williams,  he  said, 
"  General,  my  ofiicers  oppose  my  running  by  Yicks- 
burg as  impracticable.  Only  one  supports  me.  So 
I  must  give  it  up  for  the  present.  In  ten  days  they 
will  all  be  of  my  opinion  ;  and  then  the  difiiculties 
will  be  much  greater  than  they  are  now."  It  turned 
out  as  he  had  said.  In  a  few  days  they  were  nearly 
all  of  his  opinion,  and  he  did  it. 

But  we  found  no  dry  place  for  the  soles  of  our 


38  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

feet.  "'  The  water  was  down,''  as  the  Scotchmen 
say  (down  from  the  hills),  and  the  whole  Louisiana 
side  of  the  river  was  flooded.  It  would  have  been 
madness  to  land  on  the  Yicksburg  side  with  two 
regiments  only.  Nothing  could  be  done,  and  we 
returned  to  Baton  Rouge,  where,  finding  a  healthy 
and  important  position,  a  United  States  arsenal,  and 
Union  men  who  claimed  our  protection,  "Williams 
determined  to  remain  and  await  orders. 

Here  cotton  was  offered  us,  delivered  on  the  levee, 
at  three  cents  a  pound.  It  was  selling  at  one  dollar 
in  IS'ew  York.  I  spoke  to  Williams  about  it,  and  he 
said  that  there  was  no  law  against  any  officer  specula- 
ting in  cotton  or  other  products  of  the  country  (one 
was  subsequently  passed),  but  that  he  would  not  have 
any  thing  to  do  with  it,  and  advised  me  not  to.  I 
followed  his  advice  and  example.  A  subsequent 
post-commander  did  not.  He  made  eighty  thousand 
dollars  out  of  cotton,  and  then  went  home  and  was 
\    made  a  brigadier-general ;  I  never  knew  why. 

But  the  Government  was  determined  to  open  the 
river  at  all  hazards.  Farragut  was  re -enforced. 
Butler  w^as  ordered  to  send  all  the  troops  he  could 
spare.  Davis  was  ordered  down  with  the  Upper 
Mississippi  fleet.     Early  in  June  we  started  again 


THE   '' HARTFORDr  39 

for  Yicksburg,  with  six  regiments  and  two  batteries. 
It  was  a  martial  and  beautiful  sight  to  see  the  long 
line  of  gun-boats  and  transports  following  each  other 
in  Indian  file  at  regular  intervals.  Navy  and  army 
boats  combined,  we  numbered  about  twenty  sail — 
if  I  may  apply  that  word  to  steamers.  On  our  way 
up,  the  flag -ship,  the  famous  Hartford^  was  nearly 
lost.  She  grounded  on  a  bank  in  the  middle  of  the 
river,  and  with  a  falling  stream.  Of  course  there 
was  the  usual  talk  about  a  rebel  pilot ;  but  no  vessel 
with  the  draught  of  the  Hartforcl^^  sloop-of-war,  had 
ever  before  ventured  to  ascend  above  New  Orleans. 
The  navy  worked  hard  all  the  afternoon  to  release 
her,  but  in  ^ain.  The  hawsers  parted  like  pack- 
thread. I  was  on  board  when  a  grizzled  quarter- 
master, the  very  type  of  an  old  man  of-warsman, 
came  up  to  the  commodore  on  the  quarter-deck,  and, 
pulling  his  forelock,  reported  that  there  was  a  six- 
inch  hawser  in  the  hold.  Farragut  ordered  it  up  at 
once.  Two  of  our  army  transports,  the  most  power- 
ful, were  lashed  together,  the  hawser  passed  round 
them,  and  slackened.  They  then  started  with  a  jerk. 
The  Hartford  set  her  machinery  in  motion,  the  gun- 
boat lashed  along-side  started  hers,  and  the  old  ship 
came  off,  and  was  swept  down  with  the  current.     It 


40  CAJ/P,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

required  some  seamanship  to  disentangle  all  these 
vessels. 

We  found  that  the  waters  had  subsided  since  our 
last  visit  to  Yicksburg,  and  so  landed  at  Young's 
Point,  opposite  the  town.  Some  years  previously 
there  had  been  a  dispute  between  the  State  authori- 
ties of  Louisiana  and  of  Mississippi,  and  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  former  had  taken  stejDS  to  turn  the  river, 
and  cut  off  Yicksburg  by  digging  a  canal  across  the 
peninsula  opposite.  This  we  knew,  and  decided  to 
renew  the  attempt.  We  soon  found  traces  of  the 
engineers'  work.  The  trees  were  cut  down  in  a 
straight  line  across  the  Point.  Here  we  set  to  work. 
Troops  were  sent  to  the  different  plantations  both 
up  and  down  the  river,  and  the  negroes  pressed  into 
the  service.  It  was  curious  to  observe  the  difference 
of  opinion  among  the  old  river  captains  as  to  the  fea- 
sibility of  our  plan.  Some  were  sure  that  the  river 
w^ould  run  through  the  cut;  others  swore  that  it 
would  not,  and  could  not  be  made  to.  The  matter 
was  soon  settled  by  the  river  itself ;  for  it  suddenly 
rose  one  night,  Ulled  up  our  ditch,  undermined  the 
banks,  and  in  a  few  hours  destroyed  our  labor  of 
days.  A  somewhat  careful  observation  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi since  has  satisfied  me  that  if  a  canal  be  cut 


FA RR A  GUT.  41 


where  the  stream  impinges  upon  the  bank,  it  will 
take  to  it  as  naturally  as  a  duck  does  to  water.  But 
when  the  current  strikes  the  opposite  bank,  as  it 
does  at  Young's  Point,  you  can  not  force  it  from 
its  course.  Had  we  attempted  our  canal  some  miles 
farther  up,  where  the  current  strikes  the  right  bank, 
we  should  have  succeeded.  Grant,  the  next  year, 
renewed  our  ditch-digging  experiment  in  the  same 
place,  and  with  infinitely  greater  resources,  but  with 
no  better  success. 

Farragut  had  now  made  his  preparations  to  run 
by  the  batteries.  He  divided  his  squadron  into  three 
divisions,  accompanying  the  second  division  himself. 
The  third  was  under  command  of  Captain  Craven,  of 
the  Brooklyn.  We  stationed  JSTim's  light  battery — 
and  a  good  battery  it  was — on  the  point  directly  op- 
posite Yicksburg,  to  assist  in  silencing  the  fire  of  one 
of  the  most  powerful  of  the  shore  batteries.  Yery 
early  in  the  morning  Farragut  got  under  way ; 
two  of  his  divisions  passed,  completely  silencing  the 
rebel  batteries.  The  third  division  did  not  attempt 
the  passage.  This  led  to  an  angry  correspondence 
between  the  commodore  and  Craven,  and  resulted  in 
Craven's  being  relieved,  and  ordered  to  report  to 
Washington.     There  was  a  great  difference  of  opin- 


42  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

ion  among  naval  officers  as  to  Craven's  conduct. 
He  was  as  brave  an  officer  as  lived.  He  contended 
that  it  was  then  broad  daylight,  that  the  gunners  on 
shore  had  returned  to  their  guns,  and  that  his  feeble 
squadron  would  have  been  exposed  to  the  whole  fire 
of  the  enemy,  without  any  adequate  object  to  be 
gained  in  return.  Farragut  replied  that  his  orders 
were  to  pass,  and  that  he  should  have  done  it  at  all 
hazards. 

And  now  an  incident  occurred  which  mortified 
the  commodore  deeply.  His  powerful  fleet,  re-en- 
forced by  Davis,  lay  above  Yicksburg.  The  weather 
was  intensely  hot,  and  the  commodore,  contrary  to 
his  own  judgment,  as  he  told  Williams,  but  on  the 
urgent  request  of  his  officers,  had  permitted  the  fires 
to  be  extino^uished.  Earlv  one  mornino:  we  had  sent 
a  steamboat  with  a  party  up  the  river  to  press  ne- 
groes into  our  canal  work.  Suddenly  a  powerful 
iron -clad,  flying  the  Confederate  colors,  appeared 
coming  out  of  the  Yazoo  River  There  was  noth- 
ing for  our  unarmed  little  boat  to  do  but  to  run  for 
it.  The  Arhcmsas  opened  from  her  bow  guns,  and 
the  first  shell,  falling  among  the  men  drawn  up  on 
deck,  killed  the  captain  of  the  company,  and  killed 
or  wounded  ten  men.      It  is  so  rarely  that  a  shell 


THE  ''ARKANSASr  43 

commits  such  havoc,  that  I  mention  it  as  an  un- 
common occurrence. 

The  firing  attracted  the  attention  of  the  fleet,  and 
they  beat  to  quarters.  But  there  was  no  time  to  get 
up  steam.  The  Arkansas  passed  through  them  all 
almost  unscathed,  receiving  and  returning  their  fire. 
The  shells  broke  against  her  iron  sides  without  in- 
flicting injury.  The  only  hurt  she  received  was 
from  the  Richmond.  Alden  kept  his  guns  loaded 
with  powder  only,  prepared  to  use  shell  or  shot  as 
circumstances  might  require.  He  loaded  with  solid 
shot,  and  gave  her  a  broadside  as  she  passed.  This 
did  her  some  damage,  but  nothing  serious. 

In  the  mean  time  the  alarm  was  given  to  the  trans- 
ports. Farragut  had  sent  us  an  ofiicer  to  say  that 
the  Arkansas  was  coming,  that  he  should  stop  her  if 
he  could,  but  that  he  feared  that  he  could  not.  The 
troops  were  got  under  arms,  and  our  two  batteries 
ordered  to  the  levee.  A  staff  officer  said  to  General 
Williams,  "  General,  don't  let  us  be  caught  here  like 
rats  in  a  trap ;  let  us  attempt  something,  even  if  we 
fail."  "What  would  you  do?"  said  the  general. 
"  Take  the  Laurel  Hill,  put  some  picked  men  on 
board  of  her,  and  let  us  ram  the  rebel.  We  may 
not  sink  her,  but  we  may  disable  or  delay  her,  and 


44  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

help  the  gun-boats  to  capture  her."  "A  good  idea," 
said  the  general;  "send  for  Major  Boardman." 
Boardman,  the  daring  officer  to  whom  I  have  before 
referred,  had  been  brought  up  as  a  midshipman.  He 
was  known  in  China  as  the  "  American  devil,"  from 
a  wild  exploit  there  in  scaling  the  walls  of  Canton 
one  dark  night  when  the  gates  w^ere  closed  ;  climbing 
them  wath  the  help  of  his  dagger  only,  making  holes 
in  the  masonry  for  his  hands  and  feet.  He  was  aft- 
erward killed  by  guerrillas,  having  become  colonel 
of  his  regiment.  Boardman  came;  the  Laurel  Hill 
was  cleared;  twenty  volunteers  from  the  Fourth 
Wisconsin  were  put  on  board,  and  steam  got  up. 
The  captain  refused  to  go,  and  another  transport 
captain  was  put  in  command.  We  should  have  at- 
tempted something,  perhaps  failed ;  but  I  think  one 
or  other  of  us  would  have  been  sunk.  But  our  prep- 
arations were  all  in  vain.  The  Arkansas  had  had 
enough  of  it  for  that  day.  She  rounded  to,  and  took 
refuge  under  the  guns  of  Yicksburg. 

Reporting  this  incident  to  Butler  subsequently,  he 
said,  "You  w^ould  have  sunk  her,  sir;  you  would 
have  sunk  her." 

Farragut,  as  I  have  said,  was  deeply  mortified. 
He  gave  orders  at  once  to  get  up  steam,  and  j^re- 


THE   ''ARKANSAS''  BURNED.  45 

pared  to  run  the  batteries  again,  determined  to  de- 
stroy tlie  rebel  ram  at  all  hazards.  He  had  resolved 
to  ram  her  with  the  Hartford  as  she  lay  under  the 
guns  of  Yieksburg.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  he 
was  dissuaded  from  doing  so,  and  only  upon  the 
2')romise  of  Alden  that  he  w^ould  do  it  for  him  in  the 
Eichmond.  Farragut,  in  his  impulsive  way,  seized 
Alden's  hand,  "  Will  you  do  this  for  me,  Alden  ? 
will  you  do  it  ?"  The  rapidity  of  the  current,  the 
unusual  darkness  of  the  night,  and  the  absence  of 
lights  on  the  Ai^Mnsas  and  on  shore,  prevented  the 
execution  of  the  plan.  To  finish  with  the  A)'l'a7isas, 
she  afterward  came  down  the  river  to  assist  in  the 
attack  on  Baton  Rouge.  Part  of  her  machinery  gave 
out ;  she  turned  and  attempted  to  return  to  Yieks- 
burg, was  pursued  by  our  gun -boats,  run  ashore, 
abandoned,  and  burned. 

The  rebels  never  had  any  luck  with  their  gun- 
boats. They  always  came  to  grief.  They  were 
badly  built,  badly  manned,  or  badly  commanded. 
The  Louisiana,  the  Arkansas,  the  Manassas,  the 
Tennessee,  the  AThemarU  —  great  things  were  ex- 
pected of  them  all,  and  they  did  nothing. 

But  we  were  as  far  from  the  capture  of  Yieks- 
burg as  ever.     Fever  attacked    our   men  in   those 


46  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE, 

fatal  swamps,  and  they  became  thoroughly  discour- 
aged. The  sick-list  was  fearful.  Of  a  battery  of 
eiglity  men,  twenty  only  were  fit  for  duty.  The 
Western  troops,  and  they  were  our  best,  were  home- 
sick. Lying  upon  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi, 
with  transports  above  Yicksburg  convenient  for 
embarkation,  they  longed  for  home.  The  colonels 
came  to  Williams,  and  suggested  a  retreat  up  the 
river,  to  join  Halleck's  command.  Williams  held  a 
council  of  war.  He  asked  me  to  attend  it.  The 
colonels  gave  their  opinions,  some  in  favor  of,  and 
others  against,  the  proposed  retreat.  When  it  came 
to  my  turn,  I  spoke  strongly  against  it.  I  urged 
that  we  had  no  right  to  abandon  our  comrades  at 
Xew  Orleans ;  that  it  might  lead  to  the  recajDture 
of  that  city ;  that  if  our  transports  were  destroyed, 
we  should  at  least  attempt  to  get  back  by  land.  I 
do  not  suppose  that  Williams  ever  entertained  the 
least  idea  of  retreating  up  the  river,  but  thought  it 
due  to  his  officers  to  hear  what  they  had  to  say  in 
favor  of  it.     The  plan  was  abandoned. 


SICKNESS.  47 


CHAPTER  lY. 

Sickness.— Battle  of  Baton  Rouge.— Death  of  Williams.— "  Fix  Bay- 
onets '."—Thomas  Williams.— His  Body.— General  T.  W.  Sherman. 
— Butler  relieved.— General  Orders,  No.  10. — Mr.  Adams  and  Lord 
Palmerston. — Butler's  Style. 

Of  the  events  which  immediately  followed  the 
council  of  war  referred  to  in  the  last  chapter,  the 
writer  knows  only  by  report.  He  was  prostrated 
with  fever,  taken  to  a  house  on  shore,  moved  back 
to  head  -  quarters  boat,  put  on  board  a  gun  -  boat, 
and  sent  to  New  Orleans.  Farragut,  with  his  usual 
kindness,  offered  to  take  him  on  board  the  Hartford, 
give  him  the  fleet-captain's  cabin,  and  have  the  fleet- 
surgeon  attend  him.  But  Williams  declined  the 
offer.  Farragut  then  offered  to  send  him  to  Kew 
Orleans  in  a  gun- boat.  This  Williams  accepted. 
The  writer  was  taken  to  New  Orleans,  sent  to  mil- 
itary hospital,  an  assistant-surgeon's  room  given  up 
to  him,  and  every  care  lavished  upon  him ;  for  one 
of  Williams's  staff  —  poor  De  Kay  —  wounded  in  a 
skirmish,  had  died   in  hospital.      Butler    had   con- 


48  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

ceived  the  idea — erroneous,  I  am  sure — that  he  had 
been  neglected  bj  tlie  surgeons.  When  I  was 
brought  down  he  sent  them  word  that  if  another  of 
Williams's  staff  died  tliere,  thej  would  hear  from 
him.     I  did  not  die. 

Meantime,  unable  to  effect  any  thino:  ao^ainst 
Yicksburg,  with  more  than  half  his  men  on  the  sick- 
list,  Williams  returned  to  Baton  Eouge.  The  rebel 
authorities,  with  spies  everywhere,  heard  of  the  con- 
dition of  our  forces,  and  determined  to  attack  them. 
Early  one  foggy  morning  twelve  thousand  men,  un- 
der Breckenridge,  attacked  our  three  or  four  tliou- 
sand  men  fit  for  duty  But  they  did  not  catcli 
Williams  napping  He  had  heard  of  the  intended 
movement,  and  was  prepared  to  meet  it.  Our  forces 
increased,  too,  like  magic.  Sick  men  in  hospital, 
who  thought  that  they  could  not  stir  hand  or  foot, 
found  themselves  wonderfully  better  the  moment 
there  was  a  prospect  of  a  fight.  Happily  a  thick 
mist  prevailed.  Happily,  too,  they  first  attacked 
the  Twenty-first  Indiana,  one  of  our  stanchest  regi- 
ments, holding  the  centre  of  the  position.  This  fine 
regiment  was  armed  with  breech  loaders,  the  only 
ones  in  the  Gulf.  Lying  on  the  ground,  they  could 
see  the  legs  of  the  rebels  below  the  mist,  and  fire 


DEATH  OF   WILLIAMS.  49 

with  a  steady  aim  upon  them,  themselves  unseen. 
On  the  right  the  Thirtieth  Massachusetts  was  en- 
gaged, but  not  hotlj.  The  left  was  but  slightly- 
pressed.  Williams  had  carefully  reconnoitred  the 
ground  the  afternoon  before,  and  marked  out  his 
different  positions.  As  the  battle  progressed,  he  fell 
back  upon  his  second  position,  contracting  his  lines. 
As  it  grew  hotter,  he  issued  orders  to  fall  back  upon 
the  third  position.  As  he  gave  the  order,  the  lieu- 
tenant-colonel of  the  Twenty-first,  Colonel  Keith,  as 
plucky  a  little  fellow  as  lived,  came  to  him  and  said, 
"  For  God^s  sake,  general,  don't  order  us  to  fall  back ! 
We'll  hold  this  position  against  the  whole  d — d  rebel 
army."  "  Do  your  men  feel  that  way,  colonel  ?"  re- 
plied Williams ;  and  turning  to  the  regiment,  he  said, 
"  Fix  bayonets  !"  As  he  uttered  these  words,  he  was 
shot  through  the  heart.  The  men  fixed  bayonets, 
charged,  and  the  rebels  gave  way.  But  there  was 
no  one  competent  to  take  command.  The  Fourth 
Wisconsin,  on  our  left,  waited  in  vain  for  the  orders 
Williams  had  promised  them,  eager  to  advance,  for 
he  had  meant  that  this  regiment  should  take  the 
rebels  in  flank.  The  victory  was  won,  but  its  fruits 
were  not  gathered. 

I  think  that  grander  words  were  never  uttered  by 


50  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

a  commander  on  the  field  of  battle  as  he  received 
his  death -wound  than  these  words  of  Williams's. 
"  Fix  bayonets !"  means  business,  and  in  this  in- 
stance they  meant  victory. 

Thomas  Williams  was  a  noble  fellow.  Had  he 
lived,  he  would  have  been  one  of  the  great  generals 
of  our  war.  Butler  told  the  writer  that,  had  Wil- 
liams survived  Baton  Rouge,  it  was  his  intention  to 
have  turned  over  the  whole  military  command  to 
him,  and  confined  himself  to  civil  matters.  The 
" General  Order"  he  issued  on  Williams's  death  is  a 
model  of  classic  and  pathetic  English.  It  is  quoted 
as  such  by  Richard  Grant  White  in  his  "Miscella- 
ny." I  give  it  entire,  for  it  can  not  be  too  widely 
circulated,  both  on  account  of  its  style  and  its  sub- 
ject. 

"  Head-quarters,  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
"Xew  Orleans,  August  Vth,  1862. 

"  General  Orders,  No.  56  : 

"  The  commanding  general  announces  to  the 
Army  of  the  Gulf  the  sad  event  of  the  death  of 
Brigadier -general  Thomas  Williams,  commanding 
Second  Brigade,  in  camp  at  Baton  Rouge. 

"  The  victorious  achievement,  the  repulse  of  the  di- 
vision of  Major-general  Breckenridge  by  the  troops 
led  on  by  General  Williams,  and  the  destruction  of 
the  mail-clad  Arkaiisas  by  Captain  Porter,  of  the 


THOMAS    WILLIAMS.  5 1 

navy,  is  made  sorrowful  by  the  fall  of  our  brave, 
gallant,  and  successful  fellow-soldier. 

"  General  Williams  graduated  at  West  Point  in 
1837;  at  once  joined  the  Fourth  Artillery  in  Flor- 
ida, where  he  served  w^ith  distinction ;  was  thrice 
breveted  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in 
Mexico  as  a  member  of  General  Scott's  staff.  His 
life  was  that  of  a  soldier  devoted  to  his  country's 
service.  His  country  mourns  in  sympathy  with  his 
wife  and  children,  now  that  country's  care  and  pre- 
cious charge. 

"We,  his  companions  in  arms,  who  had  learned  to 
love  him,  weep  the  true  friend,  the  gallant  gentle- 
man, the  brave  soldier,  the  accomplished  officer,  the 
pure  patriot  and  victorious  hero,  and  the  devoted 
Christian.  All,  and  more,  went  out  when  Williams 
died.  By  a  singular  felicity,  the  manner  of  his  death 
illustrated  each  of  these  generous  qualities. 

"  The  chivalric  American  gentleman,  he  gave  up 
the  vantage  of  the  cover  of  the  houses  of  the  city, 
forming  his  lines  in  the  open  field,  lest  the  women 
and  children  of  his  enemies  should  be  hurt  in  the 
fight. 

"A  good  general,  he  made  his  dispositions  and  pre- 
pared for  battle  at  the  break  of  day,  when  he  met 
his  foe ! 

"A  brave  soldier,  he  received  the  death-shot  lead- 
ing his  men ! 

"A  patriot  hero,  he  was  fighting  the  battle  of 


CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


his  country,  and  died  as  went  up  the  cheer  of  vic- 
tory! 

"A  Christian,  he  sleeps  in  the  hope  of  a  blessed 
Redeemer ! 

"  His  virtues  we  can  not  exceed ;  his  example  we 
may  emulate,  and,  mourning  his  death,  we  pray, 
'  May  our  last  end  be  like  his.' 

"  The  customary  tribute  of  mourning  will  be  worn 
by  the  officers  in  the  department. 

"  By  command  of  Major-general  Butler. 

"R.  T.  Davis,  Captain  and  A.  A.  A.  G." 

Williams  was  an  original  thinker.  He  had  some 
rather  striking  ideas  about  the  male  portion  of  the 
human  race.  He  held  that  all  men  were  by  nature 
cruel,  barbarous,  and  coarse,  and  were  only  kept  in 
order  by  the  influence  of  women — their  wi  ves,  moth- 
ers, and  sisters.  "Look  at  those  men,"  he  would 
say.  "At  home  they  are  respectable,  law-abiding 
citizens.  It's  the  women  who  make  them  so.  Here 
they  rob  hen-roosts,  and  do  things  they  would  be 
ashamed  to  do  at  home.  There  is  but  one  thing 
will  take  the  place  of  their  women's  influence,  and 
tliat  is  discipline ;  and  I'll  give  them  enough  of  it." 
I  used  to  think  his  views  greatly  exaggerated,  but  I 
came  to  be  very  much  of  his  opinion  before  the  war 
was  over. 


WILLIAMS'S  BODY.  S3 

A  curious  thing  happened  to  his  body.  It  was 
sent  down  in  a  transport  with  wounded  soldiers. 
She  came  in  collision  with  the  gunboat  Oneida  com- 
ing up,  and  was  sunk.  Various  accounts  were  given 
of  the  collision.  It  was  of  course  reported  that  the 
rebel  pilot  of  the  transport  had  intentionally  run 
into  the  gun -boat.  I  think  this  improbable,  for  I 
have  observed  that  rebel  pilots  value  their  lives  as 
much  as  other  people.  Captain  (afterward  Admiral) 
Lee  lay  by  the  wreck,  and  picked  up  the  wounded : 
none  were  lost.  Shortly  afterward  Gun-boat  No.  1, 
commanded  by  Crosby,  a  great  friend  of  "Williams, 
came  up.  Lee  transferred  the  men  to  her,  ordered 
her  to  Xew  Orleans,  and  himseK  proceeded  to  Ba- 
ton Eouge.  Crosby  heard  that  Williams's  body 
was  on  board.  He  spent  several  hoars  in  search- 
ing for  it,  but  without  success.  He  reluctantly  con- 
cluded to  abandon  the  search.  Some  hours  later 
in  the  day,  and  several  miles  from  the  scene  of  the 
disaster,  a  piece  of  the  wreck  was  seen  floating 
down  the  current,  with  a  box  upon  it.  A  boat  was 
lowered,  and  the  box  was  picked  up.  It  turned  out 
to  be  the  coffin  containing  the  body.  His  portman- 
teau too  floated  ashore,  fell  into  honest  hands,  and 
was  returned  to  me  by  a  gentleman  of  the  coast. 


54  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

It  had  been  General  Butler's  intention,  on  my  re- 
covery, to  give  me  command  of  the  Second  Louisi- 
ana, a  regiment  he  was  raising  in  New  Orleans,  most- 
ly from  disbanded  and  rebel  soldiers.  My  recovery 
was  so  long  delayed,  however,  that  he  was  compelled 
to  fill  the  vacancy  otherwise.  Shortly  afterward 
General  T.  W.  Sherman  was  ordered  to  New  Or- 
leans, and  I  was  assigned  to  duty  on  his  staff.  He 
was  sent  to  Carondelet  to  take  charge  of  the  post 
at  the  Parapet,  and  of  all  the  northern  approaches 
to  New  Orleans.  Tliis  was  done  under  orders  from 
Washington ;  but  of  this  Sherman  was  not  aware,  for 
no  copy  of  the  orders  had  been  sent  him.  He  never 
knew  to  what  an  important  command  it  was  the  in- 
tention of  the  Government  to  assign  him  till  some 
years  later,  when  the  writer,  having  become  Adju- 
tant-general of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  found 
the  orders  in  the  archives  of  the  Department. 

But  the  days  of  Butler's  command  were  brought 
to  a  close.  Banks  arrived  with  re-enforcements,  and 
exhibited  his  orders  to  take  command  of  the  Depart- 
ment. No  one  was  more  surprised  than  Butler. 
He  had  supposed  that  Banks's  expedition  was  direct- 
ed against  Texas.  His  recall  seemed  ungrateful  on 
the  part  of  the  Government,  for  it  was  to  him  that 


BUTLER  RELIEVED.  55 


the  capture  of  JSTew  Orleans  at  that  early  date  was 
principally  due.  It  is  probable  that  the  consuls  in 
that  city  had  complained  of  him,  and  our  Govern- 
ment, thinking  it  all-important  to  give  no  cause  of 
complaint  to  foreign  governments,  Great  Britain  and 
France  especially,  recalled  him. 

As  General  Butler  will  not  again  appear  in  these 
pages,  I  can  not  close  this  part  of  my  narrative  with- 
out endeavoring  to  do  him  justice  in  regard  to  one 
or  two  points  on  which  he  has  been  attacked.  The 
silver-spoon  story  is  simply  absurd.  Butler  confis- 
cated and  used  certain  table-silver.  When  Banks  re- 
lieved him,  he  turned  it  over  to  him.  When  a  howl 
was  made  about  it  toward  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
the  Government  referred  the  papers  to  Butler,  for  a 
report,  he  simply  forwarded  a  copy  of  Banks's  quar- 
ter-master's receipt.  I  was  amused  once  at  hearing 
that  inimitable  lecturer,  Artemus  Ward,  get  off  a  joke 
upon  this  subject  in  Kew  Orleans.  He  was  describ- 
ing the  Mormons,  and  a  tea-party  at  Brigham  Young's, 
and  said  that  Brigham  Young  probably  had  a  larger 
tea-service  than  any  one  in  the  world,  "  except,"  said 
he,  and  then  paused  as  if  to  reflect — "except,  per- 
haps. General  Butler."  Imagine  the  effect  upon  a 
I^ew  Orleans  audience.     It  is  perhaps  needless  to 


56  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

observe  that  Butler  was  not  at  that  time  in  com- 
mand. 

The  only  charge  against  Butler  which  was  never 
thoroughly  disproved  was  that  he  permitted  those 
about  him  to  speculate,  to  the  neglect  of  their  duties 
and  to  the  injury  of  our  cause  and  good  name.  He 
must  have  been  aware  of  these  speculations,  and 
have  shut  his  eyes  to  them.  But  that  he  himself 
profited  pecuniarily  by  them,  I  do  not  believe. 

The  famous  General  Orders,  ISTo.  10,  "  The  Wom- 
an's Order,"  was  issued  while  I  was  in  New  Orleans, 
and  excited  much  and  unfavorable  comment.  But- 
ler ordered  that  ladies  insulting  United  States  offi- 
cers should  be  treated  "  as  women  of  the  town  plying 
their  trade."  Strong,  his  adjutant  -  general,  remon- 
strated, and  begged  him  to  alter  it.  He  said  that 
he  meant  simply  that  they  should  be  arrested  and 
punished  according  to  the  municipal  law  of  the  city, 
f.  e.^  confined  for  one  night  ^nd  fined  five  dollars. 
Strong  replied,  "  Wliy  not  say  so,  then  ?"  But  But- 
ler has  much  of  the  vanity  of  authorship.  He  was 
pleased  with  the  turn  of  the  phrase,  thought  it  hap- 
py, and  refused  to  surrender  it. 

In  this  connection,  when  in  London,  I  heard  an 
anecdote  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Lord  Palmerston  which 


BUTLER'S  STYLE.  57 

is  not  generally  known.  It  was  not  often  that  any 
one  got  the  better  of  old  "  Pam,"  but  Mr.  Adams 
did.  When  Butler's  order  reached  England,  Lord 
Palmerston  was  the  head  of  the  Government ;  Lord 
John  Eussell  w^as  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign 
Affairs.  Lord  Palmerston  wrote  to  Mr.  Adams  to 
know  if  the  order  as  printed  in  the  London  papers 
was  authentic.  Mr.  Adams  asked  if  he  inquired  of- 
ficially or  privately.  Lord  Palmerston  replied  rath- 
er evasively.  Mr.  Adams  insisted.  Lord  Palmer- 
ston answered  that  if  Mr.  Adams  must  know,  he 
begged  him  to  understand  that  he  inquired  officially. 
Mr.  Adams  had  the  correspondence  carefully  cop- 
ied in  Moran's  best  handwriting,  and  inclosed  it  to 
Lord  John  with  a  note  inquiring,  who  was  Her 
Majesty's  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs ;  was 
it  Lord  Palmerston,  or  was  it  Lord  John  ?  A  quick 
reply  came  from  Lord  John,  asking  him  to  do  noth- 
ing further  in  the  matter  till  he  heard  from  him 
again.  The  next  day  a  note  was  received  from 
Lord  Palmerston  withdrawing  the  correspondence. 

I  have  given  two  specimens  of  Butler's  style. 
Here  is  another,  and  of  a  different  character.  At 
the  request  of  a  naval  officer  in  high  command,  Far- 
ragut  applied  to  Butler  for  steamboats  to  tow  the 

3^ 


58  CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 

mortar  vessels  to  Yicksburg.  Butler  replied  that 
he  regretted  that  he  had  none  to  spare.  The  of- 
ficer answered  that  if  Butler  would  prevent  his 
brother  from  sending  quinine  and  other  contraband 
stores  into  the  Confederacy,  there  would  be  boats 
enough.  This  came  to  Butler's  ears.  He  answered. 
After  giving  a  list  of  his  boats,  and  stating  their  dif- 
ferent employments,  he  proceeded  substantially  as 
follows.  I  quote  from  memory.  "Now,  there  are 
two  kinds  of  lying.  The  first  is  when  a  man  delib- 
erately states  what  he  knows  to  be  false.  The  sec- 
ond is  when  he  states  what  is  really  false,  but  what 
at  the  time  he  believes  to  be  true.      For  instance, 

when  Captain reports  that  the  ram  Loimiana 

came  down  upon  his  gun -boats,  and  a  desperate 
fight  ensued,  he  stated  what  is  in  point  of  fact  false ; 
for  the  Louisiana  was  blown  up  and  abandoned, 
and  was  drifting  with  the  current,  as  is  proved  by 
the  report  of  the  rebel  commander,  Duncan :  but 
Captain  believed  it  to  be  true,  and  acted  ac- 
cordingly ;  for  he  retreated  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  leaving  the  transports  to  their  fate." 


GENERAL  SHERMAN.  59 


CHAPTEE  y. 

T.  W.  Sherman.  —  Contrabands.  —  Defenses  of  New  Orleans.  —  Ex- 
change of  Prisoners. — Amenities  in  War, — Port  Hudson. — Recon- 
noissance  in  Force. — The  Fleet. — Our  Left. — Assault  of  May  27th. 
— Sherman  wounded. — Port  Hudson  surrenders. 

The  autumn  of  1862  passed  without  any  special 
incident.  Sherman  rebuilt  the  levees  near  Carroll- 
ton,  repaired  and  shortened  the  Parapet,  pushed  his 
forces  to  the  north,  and  occupied  and  fortified  Man- 
chac  Pass.  All  these  works  were  constructed  by 
Captain  Bailey,  to  whom  I  have  already  alluded, 
and  of  whom  I  shall  have  much  to  say  hereafter; 
for  he  played  a  most  important  and  conspicuous  part 
in  the  Louisiana  campaigns.  At  Manchac  he  con- 
structed a  Ijijou  of  a  work  built  of  mud  and  clam- 
shells. He  had  the  most  remarkable  faculty  of  mak- 
ing the  negroes  work.  I  have  seen  the  old  inhab- 
itants of  the  coast  (French  cote^  bank  of  the  river) 
stopping  to  gaze  with  surprise  at  the  "niggers" 
trundling  their  wheelbarrows  filled  with  earth  on  the 
double-quick.     Such  a  sight  was  never  before  seen 


6o  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

in  Louisiana,  and  probably  never  will  be  again. 
Sherman  was  the  first  officer,  too,  to  enroll  the 
blacks,  set  them  to  work,  and  pay  them  wages.  He 
was  no  professed  friend  of  the  negro,  but  he  did 
more  practically  for  their  welfare  to  make  them  use- 
ful, and  save  them  from  vagabondage,  than  Phelps 
or  any  other  violent  abolitionist,  who  said  that  the 
slaves  had  done  enough  work  in  their  day,  and  so 
left  them  in  idleness,  and  fed  them  at  their  own 
tables.  Every  negro  who  came  within  our  lines — 
and  there  were  hundreds  of  them  —  was  enrolled 
on  the  quartermaster's  books,  clothed,  fed,  and  paid 
wages,  the  price  of  his  clothing  being  deducted. 
The  men  worked  well.  They  were  proud  of  being 
paid  hke  white  men. 

Later  in  the  season,  Sherman  sent  out  successful 
expeditions  into  the  enemy's  territory.  One  to  Pon- 
chitoula  destroyed  a  quantity  of  rebel  government 
stores;  another,  across  Lake  Pontchartrain,  captured 
a  valuable  steamer.  Sherman  employed  an  admira- 
ble spy,  the  best  in  the  Department.  As  a  rule,  both 
Butler's  and  Banks's  spies  were  a  poor  lot,  constant- 
ly getting  up  cock-and-bull  stories  to  magnify  their 
own  importance,  and  thus  misled  their  employers. 
Sherman's  spy  was  a  woman.     Her  information  al- 


DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.  6i 

ways  turned  out  to  be  reliable,  and,  wliat  is  perhaps 
a  little  remarkable,  was  never  exaggerated. 

Butler  had  now  left  the  Department,  and  Banks 
was  in  command.  About  this  time  Holly  Springs 
was  occupied  by  Yan  Dorn,  and  our  depots  burned, 
Grant  falling  back.  The  attack  upon  Yicksburg,  too, 
from  the  Yazoo  River  had  failed.  Banks's  spies  ex- 
aggerated these  checks  greatly,  and  reported  that  the 
enemy  was  in  full  march  upon  New  Orleans.  There 
was  something  of  a  stampede  among  us.  A  new 
command  was  created,  called  the  "  Defenses  of  New 
Orleans,"  and  given  to  Sherman.  In  a  fortnight  the 
face  of  these  defenses  was  vastly  changed.  When 
he  took  command,  the  city  was  undefended  to  the 
east  and  south.  In  a  few  days  the  rebel  works  were 
rebuilt,  guns  mounted,  light  batteries  stationed  near 
the  works,  each  supported  by  a  regiment  of  infantry. 
New  Orleans,  with  our  gun-boats  holding  the  river 
and  lake,  was  impregnable. 

No  commanding  officer  in  our  army  was  more 
thorough  in  his  work  than  Sherman.  I  remember 
an  instance  of  this  in  an  exchange  of  prisoners  which 
took  place  under  his  orders.  The  arrangements 
were  admirable.  We  were  notified  that  a  schooner 
with  United  States  soldiers  on  board  lay  at  Lakeport, 


62  CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 

on  Lake  Pontcliartrain.  Within  an  hour  of  receiving 
the  report  I  was  on  my  way  to  effect  tlie  exchange. 
I  was  accomj)anied  by  our  quartermaster,  to  insure 
prompt  transportation  to  Xew  Orleans ;  by  our  com- 
missary, to  see  that  the  men  were  fed,  for  our  pris- 
oners were  always  brought  in  with  very  insufficient 
supplies,  the  rebel  officers  assuring  us  that  they  had 
not  food  to  give  them ;  and  by  our  surgeon,  to  give 
immediate  medical  assistance  to  tliose  requiring  it. 
Sherman  told  me  to  give  the  rebel  officers  in  charge 
a  breakfast  or  dinner,  and  offered  to  pay  his  share. 
We  reached  Lakeport  about  sunset.  I  went  on 
board  at  once,  and  made  arrangements  for  the  ex- 
change at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  inquired  of 
the  men  if  they  had  had  any  thing  to  eat.  "  Koth- 
ing  since  morning."  The  officer  in  charge  explained 
that  they  had  been  delayed  by  head-winds ;  but  they 
were  always  delayed  by  head-winds.  We  sent  food 
on  board  that  night.  At  six  in  the  morning  the 
schooner  was  warped  along-side  of  the  pier.  A  train 
was  run  down,  a  line  of  sentries  posted  across  the 
pier,  and  no  stranger  permitted  to  approach.  The 
roll  was  called,  and  as  each  man  answered  to  his 
name,  he  stepped  ashore  and  entered  the  train. 
Meantime  I  had  ordered  down  a  breakfast  from  the 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  63 

famous  French  restaurant  at  Lakeport ;  and  while 
the  necessary  arrangements  were  being  completed  by 
the  quartermaster,  we  gave  the  Confederate  officers 
a  breakfast.  It  w^as  easy  to  see,  from  the  manner 
in  which  they  attacked  it,  that  they  did  not  fare  so 
sumptuously  every  day.  Colonel  Szymanski,  w^ho 
commanded,  an  intelligent  and  gentlemanly  officer, 
asked  permission  to  buy  the  remnants  from  the  res- 
taurant for  lunch  and  dinner  on  the  return  voyage. 
The  train  was  now  ready,  the  schooner  set  sail,  and 
we  started  for  New  Orleans.  On  our  arrival,  we 
bought  out  a  baker's  shop  and  one  or  two  orange- 
women.  It  was  a  long  time  since  the  prisoners  had 
tasted  w^hite  bread.  They  formed,  and  marched  to 
the  barracks.  Before  noon  that  day  they  were  in 
comfortable  quarters,  and  seated  at  a  bountiful  din- 
ner, prepared  in  advance  for  them.  This  was  Sher- 
man's organization.  I  had  an  opportunity  to  con- 
trast it,  not  long  after,  with  an  exchange  effected  un- 
der direct  orders  from  head-quarters.  The  contrast 
was  not  in  Banks's  favor. 

On  this  occasion  I  had  gone  down  as  a  spectator, 
and  to  see  if  I  could  be  of  use.  I  was  going  on 
board  the  cartel,  when  I  was  stopped  by  a  lady  who 
asked  me  to  take  a  young  girl  on  board  to  see  her 


64  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

brother.  Of  course  I  Avas  compelled  to  refuse.  She 
then  asked  if  I  would  not  tell  her  brother  that  she 
was  on  the  end  of  the  pier,  that  thev  might  at  least 
see  each  other.  This  I  promised  to  do.  On  board 
I  found  a  number  of  sailors,  part  of  the  crew  of  the 
Mississippi^  which  had  been  recently  lost  at  Port 
Hudson.  As  usual,  they  had  had  nothing  to  eat 
since  the  previous  evening. 

Before  leaving  the  vessel,  I  inquired  for  Lieuten- 
ant Adams.  They  told  me  that  he  was  in  '^that 
boat,"  pointing  to  one,  having  pulled  ashore,  hoping 
to  see  his  sister.  As  I  approached  the  shore  I  met 
his  boat  returning ;  I  stopped  it,  and  asked  him  if  he 
had  seen  his  sister.  He  had  not.  I  told  him  to  get 
in  with  me,  and  I  would  take  him  to  her.  He  did 
so,  and  I  pulled  to  within  a  few  yards  of  the  spot 
where  she  was  standing.  Scarcely  a  word  passed 
between  them,  for  both  were  sobbing.  We  remain- 
ed there  about  three  minutes,  and  then  pulled  back. 
We  were  all  touched,  officers  and  men,  by  this  little 
display  of  the  home  affections  in  the  midst  of  war. 
I  think  it  did  us  all  good. 

General  Banks  was  not  pleased  when  he  heard  of 
this  incident.  Perhaps  it  was  reported  to  him  in- 
correctly.    But  Sherman  thought  that  I  had  done 


PORT  HUDSON.  65 


right.  I  always  found  that  our  regular  officers 
were  more  anxious  to  soften  the  rigors  of  war,  and 
to  avoid  all  unnecessary  severity,  than  our  volunteers. 
On  our  march  through  Louisiana  under  Franklin,  a 
strong  provost  guard  preceded  the  column,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  protect  persons  and  property  from 
stragglers  till  the  army  had  passed.  If  planters  in 
the  neighborhood  applied  for  a  guard,  it  was  always 
furnished.  On  one  occasion  such  a  guard  was  capt- 
ured by  guerrillas.  General  Franklin  wrote  at  once 
to  General  Taylor,  protesting  against  the  capture  of 
these  men  as  contrary  to  all  the  laws  of  civilized 
warfare.  Taylor  promptly  released  them,  and  sent 
them  back  to  our  lines.  General  Lee  did  the  same 
in  Virginia. 

And  so  the  winter  wore  through,  and  the  spring 
came.  Banks  made  a  successful  expedition  to  Alex- 
andria, winning  the  battle  of  Irish  Bend.  I  am  the 
more  particular  to  record  this,  as  his  reputation  as  a 
commander  rests  rather  upon  his  success  in  retreat 
than  in  advance.  And  the  month  of  May  found  us 
before  Port  Hudson. 

Yicksburg  is  situated  eight  hundred  miles  above 
Kew  Orleans.  In  all  this  distance  there  are  but  five 
commanding  positions,  and  all  these  on  the  left  or 


66  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

east  bank  of  the  river.  It  was  very  important  to 
the  rebels  to  fortify  a  point  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Red  River,  in  order  that  their  boats  might  bring 
forward  the  immense  supplies  furnished  by  Louisi- 
ana, Texas,  and  Arkansas.  They  selected  Port  Hud- 
son, a  miserable  little  village  not  far  below  the  Red 
River,  and  fortified  it  strongly.  Sherman  had  seen 
the  importance  of  attacking  this  place  when  the 
works  were  commenced,  but  Butler  told  him,  very 
truly,  that  he  had  not  troops  enough  in  the  Depart- 
ment to  justify  the  attempt. 

I  think  that  it  was  the  2ith  of  May  when  we 
closed  in  upon  Port  Hudson.  Sherman's  command 
held  the  left.  He  had  a  front  of  three  miles,  en- 
tirely too  much  for  one  division.  The  country 
was  a  UrrOj  incognita  to  us,  and  we  had  to  feel  our 
way.  Of  course  there  was  much  reconnoitring  to 
be  done  —  exciting  and  interesting  work  —  but  not 
particularly  safe  or  comfortable.  Sherman  did 
much  of  this  himself.  He  had  a  pleasant  way  of 
riding  up  in  full  sight  of  the  enemy's  batteries,  ac- 
companied by  his  staff.  Here  he  held  us  while  he 
criticised  the  manner  in  which  the  enemy  got  his 
guns  ready  to  open  on  us.  Presently  a  shell  would 
whiz  over  our  heads,  followed  by  another  somewhat 


RECONNOISSANCE  IN  FORCE.  67 

nearer.  Slierinan  would  then  quietly  remark,  "  Tliey 
are  getting  the  range  now :  you  had  better  scatter." 
As  a  rule  we  did  not  wait  for  a  second  order. 

I  remember  his  sending  out  a  party  one  day  to 
reconnoitre  to  our  extreme  left,  and  connect  with 
the  fleet,  which  lay  below  Port  Hudson.  We  knew 
it  was  somewhere  there ;  but  how  far  off  it  lay,  or 
w^hat  was  the  character  of  the  country  between  us, 
we  did  not  know.  A  company  of  cavalry  reconnoi- 
tring in  the  morning  had  been  driven  in.  Sherman 
determined  to  make  a  reconnoissance  in  force.  lie 
sent  out  the  cavalry  again,  and  supported  it  with  a 
regiment  of  infantry.  I  asked  permission  to  accom- 
pany them.  He  gave  it,  and  added,  "  By  -  the  -  way, 
captain,  when  you  are  over  there,  just  ride  up  and 
draw  their  fire,  and  see  where  their  guns  are.  They 
won't  hit  you."  I  rode  up  and  drew  their  fire,  and 
they  did  not  hit  me;  but  I  don't  recommend  the 
experiment  to  any  of  my  friends. 

This  reconnoissance  was  successful.  We  passed 
through  a  thickly  wooded  country,  intersected  by 
small  streams,  for  about  two  miles,  when  we  emerged 
upon  the  open  in  full  view  of  the  works  of  Port 
Hudson.  This  we  had  to  cross,  exposed  to  their 
fire.     We  thus  gained  the  road,  running  along  the 


68  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

top  of  the  bluff ;  and,  following  tins,  we  came  in 
view  of  the  fleet.  Our  arrival  produced  a  sensation. 
They  had  been  looking  out  for  us  for  two  or  three 
days.  The  men  swarmed  up  the  rigging  and  on  to 
the  yards.  Fifty  telescopes  were  leveled  at  us ;  and 
as  we  galloped  down  the  bluff  and  along  the  levee  to 
the  ships,  cheer  after  cheer  went  up  from  the  fleet. 
We  went  on  board  the  nearest  gun  -  boat,  and  got 
some  bread  -  and  -  cheese  and  Bass — which  tasted  re- 
markably good,  by -the -way.  I  staid  but  a  little 
while,  for  I  was  anxious  about  my  men.  On  our 
homeward  march  the  enemy  opened  on  us,  and  we 
lost  two  or  three  men.  I  felt  saddened  at  the  loss 
of  any  men  while  in  some  measure  under  my  com- 
mand, and  reported  this  loss  first  to  the  general.  I 
was  much  comforted  when  he  replied, "  Lose  men ! 
of  course  you  lost  men.  Reconnoissances  in  force 
always  lose  men !" 

A  few  weeks  previous  to  my  visit  to  the  fleet, 
Farragut  had  attempted  to  run  by  Port  Hudson, 
with  a  view  to  communicate  with  Porter  at  Yicks- 
burg,  but  more  especially  to  blockade  the  mouth  of 
the  Red  River.  This,  though  the  least  knowTi  of  his 
great  exploits,  was  probably  the  most  perilous  and 
the  least  successful.     But  two  vessels  passed  the  bat- 


OUR  LEFT.  69 


teries  —  his  own,  the  old  Hartford^  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  the  gun  -  boat  that  was  lashed  to  her. 
Several  were  driven  back  disabled,  and  that  fine 
ship,  the  Mississippi,  got  aground  and  was  lost. 
The  Hartford  and  her  consort,  however,  did  good 
service,  preventing  all  rebel  vessels  from  showing 
themselves  upon  the  river  between  Port  Hudson 
and  Yicksburg. 

While  on  board  the  gun-boat,  I  remarked  to  her 
captain  that  I  was  surprised  that  General  Banks  did 
not  make  his  assault  upon  our  left,  where  we  could 
have  the  aid  of  the  fleet,  instead  of  on  the  right,  as  he 
evidently  proposed  to  do.  The  remark  was  repeat- 
ed to  Farragut,  who  mentioned  it  to  Banks.  A  day 
or  two  after  the  failure  of  our  assault  of  the  27th  of 
May,  I  was  surprised  by  a  summons  to  head-quar- 
ters, and  still  more  surprised  when  I  was  asked  what 
was  my  plan  for  taking  Port  Hudson.  My  plan  was 
simply  to  utilize  our  principal  fleet  instead  of  ignor- 
ing it.  Sherman,  who,  after  his  recovery  from  his 
wound  received  a  few  days  later,  visited  the  place 
after  its  fall,  and  carefully  examined  the  ground, 
told  me  that  the  assault  should  undoubtedly  have 
been  made  on  our  left,  not  only  on  account  of  the 
fleet,  bnt  on  account  of  the  character  of  the  ground. 


70  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

We  afterward  erected  batteries  here  within  a  very 
short  distance  of  the  enemy's,  and  commanding 
them ;  and  we  dug  up  to  their  very  citadel.  Had 
another  assault  been  ordered,  as  it  seemed  at  one 
time  probable,  it  would  have  been  made  here,  and 
would  probably  have  been  a  repetition,  on  a  small 
scale,  of  the  affair  of  the  Malakoff.  There  was  an- 
other advantage  on  this  flank.  Had  we  effected 
a  lodgment  even  with  a  small  force,  we  could  have 
maintained  our  position  in  the  angle  between  the 
parapet  and  the  river  until  re-enforcements  reached 
us.  At  the  points  selected  for  the  assault  of  the 
27th  of  May — had  we  succeeded  in  getting  in — we 
should  have  found  ourselves  exposed  to  attacks  in 
front  and  on  both  flanks,  and  should  probably  have 
been  driven  out  again. 

The  siege  of  Port  Hudson  was  tedious  and  bloody. 
Banks  ordered  an  assault.  It  was  made,  and  result- 
ed in  a  miserable  repulse.  He  was  asked  why  as- 
sault when  the  place  must  inevitably  be  starved  out 
in  a  few  weeks.  He  replied,  "The  people  of  the 
North  demand  blood,  sir."  Sherman  led  the  assault 
in  person,  at  the  head  of  the  Sixtli  Michigan  regi- 
ment ;  Bailey  headed  the  negroes,  with  plank  and 
other  materials  to  fill  up  the  fosse.     I  had  heard  be- 


ASSAULT  OF  MAY  27.  71 


fore  of  negroes  turning  white  from  fright,  and  did 
not  believe  it ;  but  it  is  literally  true.  The  men  ad- 
vanced within  a  few  yards  of  the  works,  but  could 
effect  no  lodgment.  There  never  was  a  more  useless 
waste  of  life.  Sherman  lost  his  leg,  and  his  horse 
was  killed  under  him  ;  one  staff  officer  and  his  horse 
were  killed;  an  orderly  was  killed;  another  staff 
officer  was  wounded,  and  his  horse  killed ;  and  an- 
other orderly  had  his  horse  killed.  This  is  a  pretty 
bloody  ten  minutes'  work  for  a  general  and  his  staff. 

The  staff  officer  who  was  wounded  was  Badeau, 
our  consul-general  at  London,  and  author- of  that 
model  military  history,  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Life 
of  Grant." 

Fortunately,  probably,  for  me,  I  had  been  sent 
with  orders  to  Sherman's  other  brigade,  to  support 
the  attack  by  an  assault  on  the  left.  It  was  hot 
enough  where  I  was.  The  shells  shrieked  over  my 
head,  and  a  round  shot  rolled  playfully  between  my 
horse's  legs.  But  it  was  nothing  like  the  "hell  of 
fire  "  to  which  Sherman  was  exposed. 

Sherman  having  been  sent  to  IS'ew  Orleans,  to  hos- 
pital, General  William  Dwight  took  command  of  the 
division.  After  a  while  another  assault  was  made  : 
it  was  as  fruitless  as  the  first.     But  the  enemy  was 


72  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

now  getting  short  of  provisions.  They  lived  mostly 
on  Indian  corn.  Many  deserters  came  to  us,  mostly 
Louisianians,  for  the  "  Wrackensackers  "  (Arkansas 
men)  and  the  Texans  rarely  deserted.  These  made 
up  the  garrison.  They  reported  great  want  in  the 
place  ;  and,  what  was  far  better  proof  —  for  it  will 
not  do  to  trust  implicitly  to  deserters'  stories — their 
gums  showed  the  want  of  proper  food.  The  end 
was  approaching.  On  the  4:th  of  July  Yicksburg 
surrendered.  Our  outposts  communicated  this  intel- 
ligence to  the  rebel  outposts,  and  chaffed  them  about 
it.  The  news  was  reported  to  Gardiner.  He  sent  a 
flag  to  Banks  to  inquire  if  it  were  true.  Banks  re- 
plied that  it  was,  and  Port  Hudson  surrendered. 

It  was  curious  to  observe  the  sort  of  entente  cor- 
diale  which  the  soldiers  on  both  sides  established 
during  the  siege.  When  they  were  tired  of  trying 
to  pick  each  other  off  through  the  loop-holes,  one  of 
them  would  tie  a  white  handkerchief  to  his  bayonet, 
and  wave  it  above  the  parapet.  Pretty  soon  a  hand- 
kerchief, or  its  equivalent — for  the  rebs  did  not  in- 
dulge in  useless  luxuries — would  be  seen  waving  on 
the  other  side.  This  meant  truce.  In  a  moment 
the  men  would  swarm  out  on  both  sides,  sitting  with 
their  legs  dangling  over  the  parapet,  chafiing  each 


TACIT   TRUCE.  73 


other,  and  sometimes  with  pretty  rough  wit.  They 
were  as  safe  as  if  a  regular  flag  were  out.  No  man 
dared  to  violate  this  tacit  truce.  If  he  had  done  so, 
his  own  comrades  would  have  dealt  roughly  w^ith 
him.  After  a  while,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  some 
one  would  cry  out,  "  Get  under  cover  now,  Johnnie," 
or  "  Look  out  now,  Yank ;  we  are  going  to  fire,"  and 
the  fire  would  recommence. 

Active  military  operations  were  now  suspended, 
and  I  obtained  leave  of  absence.  But  it  was  re- 
voked ;  for  General  William  B.  Franklin  had  ar- 
rived in  the  Department,  and  I  was  assigned  to  his 
staff.  I  naturally  felt  disappointed  at  losing  my 
leave,  but  I  was  subsequently  glad  that  it  had  so 
happened ;  for  it  led  to  my  promotion,  and  to  the 
establishment  of  friendly  and  pleasant  relations 
which  have  survived  the  war. 

4 


74  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTEE  YI. 

Major-general  Franklin.  —  Sabine  Pass.  —  Collision  at  Sea.  —  March 
through  Louisiana. — Rebel  Correspondence. — "The  Gypsy's  Was- 
sail,"— Rebel  Women. — Rebel  Poetry. — A  Skirmish. — Salt  Island. 
— Winter  Climate. — Banks's  Capua. — Major  Joseph  Bailey. 

Early  in  the  fall  of  1863,  Major-general  Franklin 
was  put  in  command  of  the  military  part  of  an  expe- 
dition which  had  been  planned  against  Sabine  Pass, 
on  the  coast  of  Texas.  The  arrangement  was  for 
the  navy  to  enter  the  port  at  night,  get  in  the  rear 
of  the  work,  and  capture  it ;  whereupon  the  troops 
were  to  land,  garrison  the  place,  and  hold  it  as  a  base 
for  future  operations  in  Texas.  The  plan  failed. 
The  expected  signals  were  not  displayed.  The  gun- 
boats made  the  attempt  in  broad  daylight,  got 
aground  in  the  shallow  and  winding  channel,  and 
were  captured.  Many  of  the  sailors  jumped  over- 
board, swam  ashore,  ran  do^vn  through  the  marsh, 
and  were  picked  up  by  our  boats.  The  plan  had 
failed,  and  there  was  nothing  for  the  troops  to  do 
but  to  return. 


COLLISION  AT  SEA.  75 


That  night  we  had  a  collision  between  one  of  our 
large  sea -going  steamers  and  our  light  river  boat 
used  for  head  -  quarters.     Our  side  was  apparently 
smashed  in.     A  panic  seized  the  crew ;  captain,  pilot, 
engineer,  hands,  all  rushed  for  the  steamer.     Most 
of  our  head  -  quarters  company  and  officers  follow- 
ed the  example.     I  was  reading  in  the  cabin  when 
the  collision  occurred.     The  crash  and  the  cries  at- 
tracted my  attention.     I  went  upon  deck,  and  tried 
for  a  moment  to  restore  order,  but  in  vain.     The 
soldiers  on  the  steamer  shouted,  "  Come  on  board ! 
come   on  board!     You're  sinking!   there's  a  great 
hole  in  your  side !"     The  waves  dashed   our  little 
boat  against  the  sides  of  the  steamer,  and  the  light 
plank  of  the  wheel-house  was  grinding  and  crashing. 
I  can  easily  understand  how  contagious  is  a  panic. 
It  was  with  a  great  effort  I  could  restrain  myself 
from  following  the  example  set  me.     I  knew,  how- 
ever, that  my  place  was  with  the  general,  and  I  went 
in  search  of  him.     I  found  him  on  the  hurricane- 
deck,  seated  on  the  sky  -  light,  quietly  smoking  his 
cigar.     I  said,  "  General,  are  you  not  going  to  leave 
her?"     "I  don't   believe   she'll  sink,"   he   replied. 
"  But  she  is  an  abandoned  ship,  sir ;  every  one  has 
left   her."      ''Have  thev  ?   are    you   sure?"      "I'll 


76  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


make  sure,"  I  replied ;  and,  going  to  the  wheel-house, 
found  it  deserted.  Then  I  looked  into  the  engine- 
room — I  remember  the  engine  looked  so  grim  and 
stiff  in  its  solitude.  Franklin  then  consented  to  go. 
We  found  a  quiet  place  aft  where  there  was  no  con- 
fusion ;  and  as  the  waves  tossed  up  our  light  vessel 
to  a  level  with  the  steamer,  he  sprung  upon  her 
deck.  As  soon  as  he  had  jumped,  I  attempted  to 
follow,  but  the  vessel  was  not  tossed  high  enough. 
So  I  watched  my  chance,  and  plunged  head  foremost 
into  a  port  -  hole,  where  friendly  hands  caught  me, 
and  prevented  my  falling  on  the  deck. 

But  our  little  steamer  would  not  sink.  Franklin 
at  once  ordered  out  the  boats,  secured  the  captain 
and  crew,  and  returned  on  board.  We  found  that 
the  outer  shell  of  the  boat  was  crushed  in,  and  that 
she  was  leaking  badly;  but  the  inner  ceihng  was 
unhurt.  We  easily  kept  her  free  with  the  pumps 
until  we  had  repaired  damages.  I  do  not  think  that 
the  general  ever  quite  forgave  me  for  persuading 
him  to  leave  her. 

As  we  had  failed  by  sea,  we  next  tried  the  land, 
and  with  better  success.  We  marched  to  Opelousas, 
driving  the  rebels  before  us.  A  pleasant  incident 
happened  on  this  march,  one  of  those  trifles  which 


REBEL    CORRESPONDENCE.  77 


soften  the  horrors  of  war.  I  had  known  at  New 
Orleans  a  charming  rebel  Creole  whose  husband  was 
a  general  in  the  Confederate  army.  I  had  had  an 
opportunity  to  render  the  family  some  trifling  serv- 
ice. One  day  we  intercepted  a  courier  bearing  a 
letter  from  General  to  General  Miles,  com- 
manding the  district.  He  wrote  that  he  had  fallen 
upon  the  rear  of  our  column  and  picked  up  a  num- 
ber of  stragglers,  and  that  he  should  send  them  next 
day  to  head-quarters.  Of  course  we  laid  our  plans, 
captured  the  escort,  and  recaptured  our  own  men. 
With  the  general's  assent,  I  sent  the  letter  to  the 
lady  in  question,  with  a  line  to  the  effect  that  she 
probably  had  not  seen  her  husband's  handwriting 
for  some  time,  and  might  be  gratified  to  learn  from 
the  inclosed  letter  that  he  was  well.  She  would  re- 
gret to  learn,  however,  that  our  men  had  been  retak- 
en and  the  escort  captured ;  that  I  should  spare  no 
pains  to  capture  the  general  himself,  and  send  him 
to  his  wife ;  and  that  if  he  knew  what  fate  was  in 
store  for  him,  I  was  sure  that  he  would  make  but  a 
feeble  resistance.  She  replied  in  the  same  spirit, 
that  with  such  generous  enemies  war  lost  half  its 
terrors. 

Under   Franklin    nothino^   was   left   undone   that 


78  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

could  properly  be  done  to  soften  the  rigors  of  war 
to  non-combatants.  Often  have  his  staff  officers 
spent  weary  hours  over  intercepted  correspondence. 
It  was  our  duty  to  examine  the  correspondence  in 
search  of  intelligence  that  might  be  useful  to  us ;  but 
it  was  no  part  of  our  duty  carefully  to  reseal  those 
letters  which  were  purely  on  domestic  or  personal 
matters,  re-inclose  the  hundred  odd  little  souvenirs 
they  contained,  and  send  them  under  a  flag  to  the 
rebel  lines.  And  yet  we  did  this  repeatedly.  I 
wonder  if  the  rebels  ever  did  as  much  for  us  any- 
where in  the  Confederacy ! 

Speaking  of  intercepted  letters,  I  remember  that 
at  New  Orleans  we  once  seized  a  bag  as  it  was  about 
to  cross  the  lake.  Among  other  letters,  it  contained 
one  from  a  young  lady  to  her  brother-in-law  in  Mo- 
bile. I  have  rarely  seen  a  cleverer  production.  She 
gave  an  account,  with  great  glee,  of  a  trick  she  had 
played  upon  a  Boston  newspaper,  perhaps  the  "  Ke- 
spectable  Daily."  She  wrote  that  she  had  sent  them 
a  poem  called  "  The  Gypsy's  Wassail,"  the  original 
in  Sanscrit,  the  translation  of  course  in  English,  and 
all  that  was  patriotic  and  loyal.  "  Xow,  the  San- 
scrit," she  wrote,  "  was  English  written  backward, 
and  read  as  follows : 


''THE    GYPSY'S    WASSAIW  79 

" '  God  bless  our  brave  Confederates,  Lord  ! 
Lee,  Johnson,  Smith,  and  Beauregard ! 
Help  Jackson,  Smith,  and  Johnson  Joe, 
To  give  them  fits  in  Dixie,  oh  !' " 

The  Boston  newspaper  fell  into  the  trap,  and 
published  this  "  beautiful  and  patriotic  poem,  by  our 
talented  contributor."  But  in  a  few  days  some  sharp 
fellow  found  out  the  trick  and  exposed  it. 

The  letter  was  signed  "Anna"  simply,  and  no 
clue  to  the  author  was  given.  Anna  thought  that 
she  was  safe.  She  forgot  that  in  the  same  bag  was 
a  letter  from  her  sister  to  her  husband,  with  signa- 
ture and  address,  in  which  she  said,  "Anna  writes 
you  one  of  her  amusing  letters."  So  I  had  discover- 
ed who  Miss  Anna  was,  and  wrote  her  accordingly. 
I  told  her  that  her  letter  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
one  of  those  "  Yankee  "  officers  whom  she  saw  fit  to 
abuse,  and  who  was  so  pleased  with  its  wit  that  he 
should  take  great  pleasure  in  forwarding  it  to  its 
destination  ;  that  in  return  he  had  only  to  ask  that 
when  the  author  of  "The  Gypsy's  Wassail"  favored 
the  expectant  world  with  another  poem,  he  might  be 
honored  with  an  early  copy.  Anna  must  have  been 
rather  surprised. 

As  may  be  supposed,  there  were  constant  trials  of 


8o  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD   SIEGE. 

wit  between  the  rebels  and  ourselves,  in  which  we 
sometimes  came  off  second  best.  But  they  had  their 
women  to  help  them,  which  gave  them  an  immense 
advantage,  for  in  such  matters  one  woman  is  worth 
a  "wilderness"  of  men.  I  recollect  one  day  we  sent 
a  steamboat  full  of  rebel  officers,  exchanged  prison- 
ers, into  the  Confederacy.  They  were  generally  ac- 
companied by  their  wives  and  children.  Our  officers 
noticed  the  most  extraordinary  number  of  dolls  on 
board — every  child  had  a  doll — but  they  had  no  sus- 
picions. A  lady  told  me  afterward  that  every  doll 
was  filled  with  quinine.  The  sawdust  was  taken  out 
and  quinine  substituted.  Depend  upon  it  that  fe- 
male wit  devised  that  trick. 

They  attacked  us  in  poetry  too,  generally  written 
by  young  ladies,  and  some  of  it  decidedly  clever. 
Strong,  Butler's  adjutant  -  general,  had  stopped  the 
service  in  one  of  the  Episcopal  churches,  because  the 
clergyman  prayed  for  Jeff  Davis  instead  of  for  the 
"President  of  the  United  States."  This  furnished 
a  theme  for  some  bitter  stanzas.  Banks  had  sent  a 
light  battery  to  drive  among  a  crowd  of  women  and 
children  collected  on  the  levee  to  see  their  friends 
off,  and  disperse  them.  This  furnished  a  fruitful 
theme  for  the  rebel  muse. 


A   SKIRMISH.  8 1 


To  return  to  our  Opelousas  campaign. 

We  followed  the  course  of  the  Teclie  for  several 
days  through  a  lovely  country,  the  "  Garden  of 
Louisiana,"  and  it  deserves  its  name.  The  names  in 
this  part  of  the  country  are  French.  I  remember 
we  had  a  skirmish  at  a  place  called  "  Carrion-crow 
Bayou."  It  struck  me  as  an  odd  name  to  give 
to  a  stream.  I  made  inquiries,  and  found  that  a 
Frenchman  had  settled  upon  its  banks,  named  Car- 
ran  Cro. 

Our  march  to  Opelousas  was  without  striking  in- 
cident. The  Confederates  once  or  twice  came  into 
position,  as  if  to  dispute  our  progress,  but  they  al- 
ways gave  way.  Our  return,  however,  was  more 
eventful.  The  rebels  attacked  an  outlying  brigade, 
and  caught  it  napping.  It  occupied  a  strong  posi- 
tion, and  could  easily  have  beaten  cavalry  off,  the 
only  force  by  which  it  was  attacked.  Two  regiments, 
however,  were  seized  with  a  panic,  and  surrendered 
without  firing  a  shot.  The  alarm  was  given  to  the 
main  body,  and  re-enforcements  quickly  arrived,  and 
drove  off  the  rebels ;  but  they  carried  off  many  pris- 
oners. Xot  long  afterward  we  turned  the  tables 
upon  them.  They  encamped  a  regiment  of  Texas 
cavalry   at   a   beautiful   spot   near   Iberville,  called 

4-^ 


82  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

"  Camp  Pratt."  Franklin  organized  an  attack  upon 
them.  One  night  he  sent  our  cavalry  to  make  a 
wide  detour  upon  the  prairie  and  get  into  their  rear. 
Then  he  attacked  them  in  front  with  infantry.  They 
mounted  and  fled  in  disorder,  and  fell,  nearly  to  a 
man,  into  the  hands  of  our  cavaky.  It  was  a  well- 
organized  and  well-conducted  expedition,  and  reflect- 
ed credit  upon  Lee,  who  commanded  the  cavalry,  and 
upon  Cameron,  who  commanded  the  infantry.  Tra- 
dition says  that  Dick  Taylor,  who  commanded  in 
that  part  of  Louisiana,  swore  *'  like  our  army  in  Flan- 
ders "  when  he  heard  of  it. 

There  is  a  very  curious  salt  island  near  Iberville, 
well  worth  a  visit,  in  a  scientific  point  of  view. 
Franklin  wanted  very  much  to  explore  it,  but  he  did 
not  wish  to  take  an  army  as  an  escort,  and  he  said  it 
would  be  too  absurd  if  he  were  captm-ed  on  such  an 
expedition.  It  would  not  have  been  quite  so  absurd 
for  me,  however ;  so  I  went,  accompanied  by  Colonel 
Professor  Owen,  of  the  Indiana  University,  and  vol- 
unteers, and  with  our  head-quarters  cavalry  company 
as  an  escort.  The  island  lies  in  the  Gulf,  and  is  per- 
haps half  a  mile  in  diameter.  In  the  centre  is  a  hol- 
low about  a  hundred  yards  across,  which  has  all  the 
appearance  of  an  extinct  crater.     Here,  a  few  inches 


WINTER   CLIMATE.  83 

below  the  surface,  lies  the  salt,  in  an  almost  perfect 
state  of  purity.  For  years  our  Southern  brethren, 
who  do  not  shine  as  inventors,  sunk  wells,  pumped 
up  the  water,  evaporated  it,  and  so  made  their  salt. 
At  last  it  occurred  to  some  one  more  clever  than  his 
neighbors,  "Why  not  blast  out  the  salt  itself  ?"  And 
so  it  was  done.  It  seems  scarcely  possible,  and  yet 
I  was  credibly  assured  that  so  scarce  was  salt  in  the 
Confederacy,  that  wagons  came  all  the  way  from 
Charleston,  were  loaded  with  salt,  and  returned  to 
that  city.     It  must  have  been  a  journey  of  months. 

We  wintered  at  Franklin,  preparing  for  a  spring 
campaign  to  the  Red  River.  The  climate  of  Loui- 
siana is  delicious  in  winter.  I  have  tried  both  the 
South  of  France  and  Italy,  but  know  no  climate 
equal  to  that  of  Louisiana.  The  summer,  en  revanche, 
is  intensely  hot,  and  lasts  from  May  to  October,  the 
thermometer  ranging  from  86°  at  night  to  96°  in  the 
day-time.  Yet  the  heat  is  not  stifling.  You  feel 
no  particular  inconvenience  from  it  at  the  time ;  but 
two  seasons  affect  the  nervous  system  seriously,  and 
a  white  man  must  from  time  to  time  get  the  North- 
ern or  the  sea-air.  Happily  the  sea-coast  is  of  easy 
access  from  New  Orleans. 

But  while  our  command  was  under  canvas,  and 


84  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

preparing  for  the  approacliing  campaign,  the  cavalry 
was  being  mounted  and  drilled  amidst  the  allure- 
ments of  a  large  city.  Why  Banks  did  not  send  it  to 
Thibodeaux,  or  to  some  other  post  where  the  prairie 
gave  admirable  opportunities  for  cavalry  exercise,  is 
a  question  which  was  often  asked,  but  to  which  no 
satisfactory  answer  has  ever  been  given.  Farragut 
said  that  he  feared  that  New  Orleans  would  prove 
Banks's  Capua.  One  of  the  consequences,  as  regards 
the  cavalry,  was,  that  they  started  upon  the  campaign 
with  "  impedimenta  "  enough  for  an  army.  Cross- 
ing a  ford  one  day,  Franklin  spied  a  country  cart 
drawn  by  a  mule,  containing  bedding,  trunks,  and  a 
negro  woman.  He  sent  the  corps  inspector  to  see  to 
whom  it  belonged.  It  turned  out  to  be  the  property 
of  a  sergeant  of  a  cavalry  regiment.  Needless  to  say 
that  the  cart  went  no  farther.  After  the  rebels  had 
captured  their  Champagne,  sardines,  and  potted  an- 
chovies, at  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  they  became  excel- 
lent cavalry. 

And  now,  fortunately  for  the  navy,  Bailey  joined 
our  stafif.  He  had  done  such  good  work  at  Port 
Hudson — built  half  our  works,  got  out  a  steamboat 
that  lay  high  and  dry  in  the  mud,  etc.,  etc.  —  that 
Banks  had  promoted  him  to  be  colonel  of  the  reg- 


MAJOR   JOSEPH  BAILEY.  85 

iment,  over  the  head  of  the  lieutenant  -  colonel. 
Banks  had  no  right  to  do  this.  In  so  doing,  he  had 
usurped  the  prerogative  of  the  Governor  of  "Wiscon- 
sin ;  and  the  governor,  as  might  be  expected,  resent- 
ed it.  Of  course  the  governor  was  sustained  by  the 
War  Department.  Bailey  was,  naturally  enough, 
annoyed  and  mortified,  and  wrote  to  me  that  he 
should  leave  the  service  ;  indeed,  he  supposed  that 
he  was  already  out  of  it,  for  he  had  been  mustered 
out  as  major  when  he  was  mustered  in  as  colonel ; 
and  now  he  had  been  mustered  out  as  colonel.  I 
wrote  to  him  not  to  go  off  at  half-cock,  to  write 
to  the  governor  and  ask  in  what  capacity  he  rec- 
ognized him,  and  then  to  the  adjutant -general  and 
ask  the  same  question.  He  was  answered  by  the 
governor  that  he  recognized  him  as  lieutenant-col- 
onel, and  by  the  Government  that  they  recognized 
him  still  as  major.  He  then  wrote  me  that  he 
would  gladly  remain  in  the  service  if  I  could  get 
him  on  Franklin's  staff,  but  that,  under  the  circum- 
stances, he  could  not  return  to  his  regiment.  I 
spoke  to  the  general  upon  the  subject,  and  mention- 
ed all  that  he  had  done  under  Sherman  at  Port 
Hudson  and  elsewhere.  The  general  applied  for 
him;  he  was  ordered  to  report  to  us,  and  was  an- 


86  CAA/P,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

nounced  as  "Military  Engineer  of  the  Nineteenth 
Army  Corps."  Thus  it  happened  that  Bailey  was 
with  us  when  his  regiment  was  not,  and  the  fleet 
on  the  Ked  Kiver  consequently  saved  from  destruc- 
tion or  capture. 


MISTAKES.  87 


CHAPTER  YII. 

Mistakes. — Affair  at  Mansfield. — Peach  Hill. — Freaks  of  the  Imagi- 
nation.— After  Peach  Hill. — General  William  Dwight. — Retreat  to 
Pleasant  Hill— Pleasant  Hill.— General  Dick  Taylor.— Taylor  and 
the  King  of  Denmark. — An  Incident. 

I  THINK  it  was  on  the  20th  of  March  that  we  left 
for  the  Red  River.  We  marched  the  whole  distance, 
arriving  at  Natchitoches  about  the  3d  of  April. 
From  Alexandria  to  Natchitoches  we  followed  the 
Red  River.  Here  began  our  mistakes.  Banks  ar- 
rived from  New  Orleans,  and  ordered  us  to  take  the 
inland  road  to  ShrevejDort.  Franklin  suggested  the 
river  road,  where  the  army  and  the  fleet  could  ren- 
der mutual  support.  Banks  said  no ;  that  the  oth- 
er was  the  shorter  route.  It  was  the  shorter  in  dis- 
tance, but  for  the  greater  part  of  the  way  it  was  a 
narrow  wood  road,  unfitted  for  the  march  of  troops 
and  the  movement  of  artillery  and  wagons.  We 
marched  two  or  three  days  without  interruption. 
Lee,  who  commanded  the  cavalry  in  advance,  had 
often  applied  for  a  brigade  of  infantry  to  support 


88  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

liim.  Franklin  had  always  declined  to  separate  his 
infantry,  answering  that  if  Lee  found  the  enemy  too 
strong  for  him,  to  fall  back,  and  we  would  come 
up  with  the  whole  infantry  force  and  disperse  them. 
On  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  April,  I  think  it  was. 
Banks  came  up  at  Pleasant  Hill,  and  assumed  com- 
mand. The  next  day  we  were  beaten ;  for  that 
evening  Lee  again  applied  for  his  infantry,  and  got 
them.  Franklin  sent  in  a  written  remonstrance 
against  the  danger  of  separating  the  infantry,  and 
having  it  beaten  in  detail.  He  was  disregarded ; 
and  we  marched  to  certain  defeat. 

The  battle  of  Sabine  Forks — Mansfield,  the  rebels 
call  it;  and  as  they  won  it,  they  have  a  right  to 
name  it  —  scarcely  rises  to  the  dignity  of  a  battle. 
We  had  our  cavalry  and  one  brigade  of  infantry 
only  engaged.  We  lost  heavily,  however,  in  guns 
and  wagons,  for  the  wagon-train  of  the  cavalry  fol- 
lowed close  upon  its  heels,  and  blocked  up  the  nar-- 
row  road,  so  that  the  guns  could  not  be  got  off. 
When  Franklin  heard  from  Banks  that  the  cavalry 
and  infantry  brigade  were  seriously  engaged,  and 
that  he  must  send  re  -  enforcements,  he  at  once  or- 
dered Emory  up  with  the  First  Division  of  the  Nine- 
teenth* Corps,  and  then  rode  forward  himself  to  the 


FRANKLIN  RETREATS.  89 


scene  of  action.  Here  lie  lost  his  horse  and  was 
wounded  in  the  leg,  while  one  of  our  staff  officers 
was  killed.  When  our  cavalry  and  brigade  were 
finally  defeated,  the  rebels  advanced  upon  us.  It 
was  a  striking  and  beautiful  sight  to  see  a  column 
of  their  best  infantry — the  "Crescent  City  Eegi- 
ment,"  I  think  it  was  —  marching  steadily  down 
the  road  upon  us,  while  their  skirmishers  swarmed 
through  the  w^oods  and  cotton  fields.  The  column 
offered  so  beautiful  a  mark  for  a  shell  or  two,  that 
the  general  rode  up  to  a  retreating  gun,  and  tried 
hard  to  get  it  into  position,  but  the  stampede  was 
too  general,  and  we  had  to  look  to  our  own  safety. 
When  he  found  how  things  were  likely  to  turn  out, 
Franklin  had  sent  an  aid-de-camp  to  Emory  with  or- 
ders to  select  a  good  position,  come  into  line,  and 
check  the  advancing  enemy.  Meantime,  we  re- 
treated, abandoning  the  road — it  was  too  blocked  up 
— and  taking  to  the  woods  and  across  the  cotton 
fields,  not  knowing  our  whereabouts,  or  whether  we 
should  land  in  the  rebel  lines  or  in  our  own.  At 
length  we  caught  sight  of  Emory's  red  division  flag, 
and  a  joyful  sight  it  was.  We  soon  reached  it,  and 
found  that  "  Bold  Emory  "  had  chosen  an  excellent 
position  on  the  summit  of  a  gentle  eminence,  called 


90  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

Peacli  Hill,  and  bad  already  got  his  men  into  line. 
His  division  had  behaved  admirably.  In  face  of 
cavalry  and  infantry  retreating  in  disorder — and 
every  oflBcer  knows  how  contagious  is  a  panic — the 
First  Division  of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps  stead- 
ily advanced,  not  a  man  falling  out,  fell  into  line, 
and  quietly  awaited  the  enemy.  They  did  not  keep 
us  waiting  long.  In  less  than  half  an  hour  after 
we  had  joined  the  division,  they  appeared,  march- 
ing steadily  to  the  attack.  But  they  were  received 
with  a  fusillade  they  had  not  counted  upon,  and  re- 
treated in  confusion.  Again  they  attempted  an  at- 
tack on  our  right,  but  with  no  better  success.  They 
were  definitively  repulsed. 

In  this  skirmish  Franklin  had  another  horse  killed 
under  him,  shot  in  the  shoulder,  for  the  enemy's  fire 
was  very  sharp  for  a  few  minutes.  I  offered  him 
my  horse,  but  he  refused  it.  The  captain  of  our 
head-quarters  cavalry  company  offered  him  his,  and 
lie  accepted  it.     The  captain  dismounted  a  private. 

I  saw  here  a  striking  instance  of  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  the  imagination  when  exalted  by  the  ex- 
citement of  battle.  A  staff  officer  by  my  side  drop- 
ped his  bridle,  threw  up  his  arms,  and  said,  "  I  am 
hit."     I  helped  him  from  his  horse.     He  said,  "  My 


AFTER  PEACH  HILL.  9 1 

boot  is  full  of  blood.-'     We  sent  him  to  the  ambu- 
lance.    I  said  to  myself,  "  Good-bye  to I  shall 

go  to  his  funeral  to-morrow."  Next  day  he  appear- 
ed at  head -quarters  as  well  as  ever.  He  had  been 
struck  by  a  spent  ball.  It  had  broken  the  skin  and 
drawn  a  few  drops  of  blood,  but  inflicted  no  serious 
injury.  At  Port  Hudson  I  saw  the  same  effect  pro- 
duced by  a  spent  ball.  A  man  came  limping  off  the 
field  supported  by  two  others.  He  said  his  leg  was 
broken.  The  surgeon  was  rather  surprised  to  find 
no  hole  in  his  stocking.  Cutting  it  off,  however,  he 
found  a  black -and -blue  mark  on  the  leg — nothing 
more.  The  chaplain  was  reading  to  him,  and  the 
man  was  pale  as  death.  I  comforted  him  by  telling 
him  to  send  the  stocking  to  his  sweetheart  as  a  trophy. 
As  we  lay  on  our  arms  that  night  at  Peach  Hill 
without  fire,  for  we  were  permitted  to  light  none, 
lest  we  should  reveal  our  small  numbers  to  the  ene- 
my, we  could  hear  distinctly  the  yells  of  the  rebels 
as  they  found  a  fresh  "cache"  of  the  good  things 
of  the  cavalry.  It  was  very  aggravating.  They  got 
our  head-quarters  ambulance  too,  but  there  was  pre- 
cious little  in  it.  Expecting  to  bivouac,  we  had 
thrown  a  few  things  hastily  into  it.  All  they  got 
of  mine  was  a  tooth-brush.     I  comforted  myself 


92  CAMP,  COURT,  AiVD  SIEGE. 

with  the  reflection  that  they  would  not  know  what 
use  to  put  it  to. 

Banks  now  sent  for  Franklin,  and  communicated 
to  him  his  intention  to  remain  on  the  battle-field  all 
night,  and  renew  the  fight  in  the  morning.  Frank- 
lin represented  that  we  had  six  thousand  men  at 
most,  and  the  rebels  thirteen  thousand.  Banks  re- 
plied that  A.  J.  Smith  would  be  up.  (Smith  was 
thirteen  miles  in  the  rear,  with  eight  thousand  men.) 
"  But  how  is  he  to  get  up,  sir  ?  The  road  is  block- 
ed up  with  the  retreating  troops  and  wagons,  and 
is  but  a  path,  after  all.  He  can't  get  up."  "  Oh ! 
he'll  be  up — he'll  be  up ;"  and  the  interview  ended. 
On  his  return  to  head-quarters,  partly  under  a  tree 
and  partly  on  a  rail  fence,  Franklin  told  me  what 
had  happened. 

General  William  D  wight,  of  Boston,  commanded 
the  First  Brigade  of  Emory's  division.  I  knew 
Dwight  well,  for  he  had  succeeded  Sherman  in  com- 
mand of  our  division  at  Port  Hudson.  I  had  recom- 
mended him  liighly  to  Franklin,  when  he  was  offer- 
ed his  choice  of  two  or  three  generals  for  commands 
in  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  as  an  officer  who  could  be 
thoroughly  relied  upon  in  an  emergency.  Dwight 
had   said  to   me,  "Major,  if   Franklin    ever  wants 


PLEASANT  HILL.  93 

Banks  to  do  any  thing,  and  he  won't  do  it,  do  you 
come  to  me."  I  thought  that  the  time  had  arrived 
to  go  to  him ;  so  I  found  my  way  through  the  dark- 
ness. "  Well,  general,  we've  got  to  stay  here  all 
night,  and  fight  it  out  to-morrow."  Dwight,  who  is 
quick  as  a  flash,  and  whose  own  soldierly  instinct 
told  him  what  ought  to  be  done,  said  at  once,  "Does 
Franklin  think  Banks  ought  to  fall  back  upon  A.  J. 
Smith?"  "Yes,  he  does."  "Then  I'll  be  d— d  if 
he  sha'n't  do  it.  Wait  here  a  minute."  Dwight 
disappeared  in  the  darkness.  In  ten  minutes  he  re- 
turned and  said,  "It's  all  right;  the  order  is  given." 

That  night  we  fell  back  upon  Pleasant  Hill, 
Dwight  bringing  up  the  rear  with  his  brigade. 
Franklin  asked  him  if  he  could  hold  his  position  till 
half -past  ten.  "  Till  morning,"  he  replied,  "  if  you 
say  so." 

At  Pleasant  Hill  we  found  General  Smith  with 
his  "gorillas,"  as  they  were  profanely  called. 
Smith's  command  boasted  that  they  had  been  in 
many  a  fight,  and  had  never  been  defeated.  I  be- 
lieve it  was  a  true  boast.  It  was  partly  luck,  partly 
their  own  courage,  and  partly  the  skill  with  which 
they  were  handled.  They  were  a  rough  lot,  but 
good  soldiers.     I  have  seen  them  straggling  along. 


94  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

one  with  a  chicken  hung  to  his  bayonet,  another 
with  a  pig  on  his  back :  turkeys,  ducks,  any  thing  of 
the  kind  came  handy  to  them.  The  alarm  sounded, 
and  in  an  instant  every  man  was  in  the  ranks,  silent, 
watchful,  orderly,  the  very  models  of  good  soldiers. 

The  battle  which  now  ensued  at  Pleasant  Hill 
formed  no  exception  to  the  rule  which  Smith's  corps 
had  established.  The  rebels,  too,  had  been  re -en- 
forced, and  attacked  us  in  the  afternoon  with  great 
spirit.  But  they  soon  found  the  difference  between 
an  affair  with  a  single  brigade  of  infantry,  and  one 
with  three  divisions  fully  prepared  and  admirably 
handled ;  for  Franklin  and  Smith  had  made  all  the 
dispositions.  They  drove  in  the  left  of  our  first  line, 
where  we  had  a  Five  Points  Xew  York  regiment 
(rowdies,  by -the -way,  always  make  the  poorest 
troops);  but  they  could  make  no  impression  on  the 
second  line,  composed  of  Smith's  "gorillas,"  and 
were  beaten  off  with  considerable  loss. 

General  Dick  Taylor,  son  of  the  President,  com- 
manded the  rebel  army  in  these  engagements,  and 
received  much  credit,  and  deservedly,  for  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  had  defeated  us  at  Mansfield.  It 
was  reported  that  General  Smith,  who  commanded 
the  Trans -Mississippi  Department  of  the  Confed- 


GENERAL   DICK  TAYLOR.  95 

eracy,  found  fault  with  Taylor  for  attacking  us,  as 
he  had  intended  to  draw  us  on  to  Shreveport,  and 
there,  with  the  help  of  Magrnder  from  Texas,  and 
Price  from  Arkansas,  overwhelm  us  disastrously. 
Perhaps  it  was  as  well  that  we  had  it  out  at  Mans- 
field. As  regards  the  affair  at  Pleasant  Hill,  it  was 
a  mistake  of  the  rebels.  They  were  not  strong 
enough  to  attack  us  in  position.  Taylor  has  since 
said  that  the  attack  was  against  his  better  judgment, 
but  that  the  officers  who  had  come  up  the  night  be- 
fore wanted  their  share  of  glory.  Perhaps,  too,  they 
had  tasted  the  cavalry  Champagne,  and  liked  the 
brand.  They  might  not  have  been  quite  so  eager 
for  the  fray  had  they  known  what  force  they  had 
to  deal  with  at  Mansfield,  and  what  lay  before  them 
at  Pleasant  Hill. 

The  writer  has  since  met  General  Taylor  in  Lon- 
don, and  a  most  agreeable  companion  he  is.  He  is 
a  great  favorite  in  court  circles,  largely  for  his  own 
merits,  but  partly  as  "  Prince  Dick."  In  monarch- 
ical countries  they  can  not  divest  themselves  of  the 
idea  that  our  presidents  are  monarchs,  and  their 
children  princes.  "Prince  John,"  "Prince  Dick," 
"  Prince  Fred,"  all  received  quasi-royal  honors.  At 
Constantinople,  when  Fred  Grant  was  with  Sherman, 


96  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

a  lieutenant  on  his  staff,  it  was  to  Grant  that  the 
Sultan  addressed  his  remarks.  Grant  tried  to  stop 
it,  but  could  not. 

They  tell  an  amusing  story  of  Dick  Taylor  in 
London.  Taylor  plays  a  good  game  of  whist.  The 
King  of  Denmark  was  on  a  visit  to  his  daughter, 
and  she  sent  for  Taylor  to  make  up  a  game  with 
her  father.  Taylor  won  largely,  and  laughingly 
said  to  the  king,  "  Your  majesty  can  not  find  fault ; 
I  am  only  getting  back  those  '  Sound  Dues '  my 
country  paid  Denmark  for  so  many  years." 

Banks  now  wanted  to  continue  his  onward  march 
to  Shreveport,  but  A.  J.  Smith  opposed  it.  He  said 
that  he  belonged  to  Sherman's  command,  and  had 
been  lent  to  Banks  for  a  season  only ;  that  he  was 
under  orders  to  return  to  Sherman  by  a  certain  day  ; 
that  much  time  had  been  lost ;  and  that  if  he  un- 
dertook the  march  to  Shreveport,  he  could  not  re- 
turn by  the  date  appointed.  Our  supplies,  too,  were 
rather  short,  the  cavalry  having  lost  their  wagon- 
train.  We  fell  back,  therefore,  upon  Grand  Ecore, 
where  we  rejoined  the  fleet.  And  here  a  curious 
incident  occurred.  An  officer  in  high  position  came 
to  Franklin  and  said  that  tlie  army  was  in  a  very 
critical  situation ;  that  it  required  generalship  to  ex- 


AN  INCIDENT,  97 


tricate  it  ;  that  under  Banks  it  would  probably  be 
captured  or  destroyed ;  and  proposed  to  put  Banks  on 
board  of  a  steamer,  and  send  him  to  New  Orleans, 
and  that  Franklin  should  take  command.  "And 
my  men,  general,"  he  said,  "will  stand  by  you  to 
the  last  man."  Of  course  Franklin  treated  it  as  a 
joke,  and  laughed  it  off.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  officer  was  in  earnest. 

General  Banks  did  not  command  the  confidence 
of  his  troops,  especially  of  the  Western  men.  They 
generally  spoke  of  him  as  ^^Mr.  Banks."  It  was  a 
great  pity  that  his  undoubted  talent  could  not  have 
been  utilized  in  the  civil  service.  As  it  turned  out, 
he  was  perhaps  the  most  striking  instance  in  our 
service  of  the  grave,  almost  fatal,  mistake  we  made 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  He  had  been  a  good 
Speaker,  so  we  made  him  a  major-general ;  he  had 
roused  a  certain  interest  in  Massachusetts  in  her 
militia,  so  we  gave  him  command  of  armies,  and 
sent  him  out  to  meet  trained  soldiers  like  Stonewall 
Jackson  and  Dick  Taylor.  The  result  was  a  fore- 
gone conclusion. 

5 


98  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

Low  Water. — The  Fleet  in  Danger. — We  fall  back  upon  Alexandria. 
— Things  look  Gloomy. — Bailey  builds  a  Dam  in  ten  Days. — Saves 
the  Fleet. — A  Skirmish. — Smith  defeats  Polignac. — Unpopularity 
of  Foreign  OflQcers.  —  A  Xovel  Bridge.  —  Leave  of  Absence. — A 
Year  in  Virginia. — Am  ordered  again  to  Xew  Orleans. 

The  Red  River  liad  now  fallen  very  low.  The 
gun -boats  had  great  difficulty  in  descending  the 
stream.  One  chilly  evening,  as  we  stood  round  the 
head-quarters  camp-fire,  word  was  brought  us  that 
one  of  Porter's  best  iron-clads  was  fast  aground  in 
the  stream,  and  that  they  had  tried  in  vain  to  get 
her  off.  I  turned  laughingly  to  Bailey,  and  said, 
"  Bailey,  can't  you  build  a  dam  and  get  her  off  ?" 
alluding  to  what  he  had  done  at  Port  Hudson. 
Bailey  followed  me  to  my  tent  and  said,  ^'  Seriously, 
major,  I  think  I  could  get  that  ship  off,  and  I  should 
like  to  try."  I  went  immediately  to  the  general, 
and  got  a  letter  from  him  to  Porter,  and  sent  Bailey 
to  the  grounded  ship.  She  was  built  in  compart- 
ments.    He  found  them  breaking  in  the  partitions. 


LOSS  OF  GUN-BOAT.  99 

lie  remonstrated,  and  said, "  Pump  out  one  compart- 
ment, then  shut  it  hermetically,  and  the  confined  air 
will  help  to  buoy  up  the  ship."  The  navy  men,  nat- 
urally enough,  resented  the  interference  of  an  out- 
sider. Bailey  gave  Porter  Franklin's  letter.  Porter 
said,  "AYell,  major,  if  you  can  dam  better  than  I 
can,  you  must  be  a  good  liand  at  it,  for  I  have  been 
d — g  all  night."  Bailey  had  not  met  with  a  very 
encouraging  reception.  He  was  one  of  those  seri- 
ous men,  who,  as  Sydney  Smith  said,  require  a  sur- 
gical operation  to  get  a  joke  into  their  heads.  He 
returned  to  camp,  and  reported  to  me  that  Porter 
had  insulted  him.  "  What  did  he  say,  Bailey  ?"  He 
told  me;  whereupon  I  explained  to  him  the  joke, 
and  he  was  perfectly  satisfied.  ''  Oh,  if  that's  what 
he  meant,  it's  all  right !"  The  ship  was  not  got  off. 
She  was  blown  up  and  abandoned. 

From  Grand  Ecore  we  fell  back  upon  Alexandria. 
Franklin  was  put  in  command  of  the  movement,  and 
Bailey  selected  our  line  of  march.  We  started  at 
dark,  and  marched  all  night.  But  the  Confederates 
were  on  the  watch.  They  threatened  our  rear,  and 
compelled  us  to  halt,  and  deploy,  while  they  hurried 
a  strong  force  to  take  position  at  Kane's  Ferry. 
Here  we  had  a  sharp  skirmish.     The  position  is  a 


lOO  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

very  strong  one,  the  stream  not  being  fordable  at 
the  Ferry.  We  crossed  two  brigades  higher  up. 
Moving  slowly  through  the  woods,  for  there  were 
no  roads,  they  struck  the  rebels  on  the  left  flank, 
and  dislodged  them.  The  fight  was  very  sharp  for  a 
time.  Colonel  Fessenden,  afterward  brigadier-gen- 
eral, commanding  a  Maine  regiment,  and  gallantly 
leading  it,  lost  a  leg  in  this  affair. 

But  a  severer  trial  awaited  the  fleet.  About  a 
mile  above  Alexandria  the  river  shoots  over  a  rap- 
id, the  Falls  of  Alexandria.  On  this  shoal  there 
was  about  five  feet  of  water,  and  the  river  was  fall- 
ing. The  boats  drew  from  seven  to  nine  feet.  The 
floods  come  down  with  great  rapidity  in  the  Red 
River.  One  night's  rain  would  have  given  the  ships 
plenty  of  water.  Twenty -four  hours'  hard  rain  raises 
it  twenty  feet.  But  the  rain  would  not  come. 
Things  looked  gloomy  enough  for  the  fleet.  Bailey 
came  to  me  and  said  that  he  could  build  a  dam  in 
ten  days,  and  get  those  ships  out.  The  river  was 
six  hundred  and  sixty -six  feet  wide  at  the  Falls. 
Franklin  sent  me  to  Porter  with  the  proposition. 
Porter  said  that  it  was  not  worth  while  —  "It  will 
rain  to-niofht  or  to-morrow."  To-niorht  and  to-mor- 
row  came,  and  it  did  not  rain,  and  still  the  river  fell. 


RED  RIVER  DAM. 


Again  Franklin  sent  me  to  Porter.  I  found  him 
unwell  and  despondent.  "  Tell  General  Franklin," 
he  said,  "  that  if  he  will  build  a  dam  or  any  thing 
else,  and  get  me  out  of  this  scrape,  I'll  be  eternally 
e-rateful  to  him."  I  returned  to  Franklin.  "  Now 
go  to  Banks,  and  get  his  permission."  I  found 
Banks  closeted  with  General  Hunter.  It  was  re- 
ported that  the  Government  had  become  anxious 
about  our  command,  and  had  sent  Hunter  down  to 
examine  and  report  upon  our  condition.  I  stated 
what  was  proposed.  Banks  turned  to  Hunter  and 
said,  "What  do  you  think  of  it,  general?"  Hunter 
replied  that  he  thought  it  impracticable,  "But  if 
Franklin  recommends  it,  try  it ;  for  he  is  one  of  the 
best  engineers  in  the  army."  Banks  said,  "  Tell  the 
general  to  give  the  necessary  orders."  The  orders 
were  given.  Maine  and  Wisconsin  regiments,  prin- 
cipally lumbermen,  were  detailed  for  the  work.  In 
ten  days  the  dam  was  built,  the  water  rose,  and  the 
fleet  came  over  in  safety. 

The  rebels  made  a  great  mistake  in  not  interfer- 
ing with  our  work.  Had  they  done  so,  they  might 
have  embarrassed  us  seriously  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  river,  opposite  Alexandria.  But  they  never 
fired  a  shot.     We  were  told  that  they  laughed  at  the 


CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 


idea  of  damming  the  Red  Eiver,  and  said  that  we 
might  as  well  try  to  dam  the  Mississippi.  We  would 
have  done  this,  had  it  been  necessary. 

Bailey  handled  water  as  a  lumberman  handles  his 
axe.  One  of  the  gun-boats  was  aground,  hanging  by 
the  stern  some  little  way  above  the  Falls.  They 
tugged  at  her  with  all  sorts  of  mechanical  contriv- 
ances, but  in  vain.  In  two  hours  Bailey  built  a  lit- 
tle "  wing-dam,"  he  called  it,  turned  the  current  un- 
der the  stern  of  the  vessel  where  she  hung,  washed 
out  the  sand,  and  the  ship  floated  off. 

Porter  told  me  that  if  Bailey  got  his  fleet  out  he 
would  never  rest  till  he  was  made  a  brigadier-gen- 
eral. He  kept  his  word.  The  Government  pro- 
moted him.  The  naval  ofiicers  subscribed,  and  gave 
him  a  sword  of  honor  and  a  service  of  plate.  He 
deserved  it  all. 

The  fleet  saved,  we  renewed  our  march  to  the 
Mississippi.  It  was  made  ^dthout  incident,  except 
that  Smith  defeated  the  rebels  in  a  skirmish  on  the 
Atchafalaya.  He  practiced  a  ruse  upon  them :  con- 
cealed a  brigade  in  the  deep  dry  ditches  that  inter- 
sect the  sugar-fields  there,  then  sent  his  skirmishers 
out.  The  rebs  drove  them  in  and  pursued  them ; 
when  up  rose  the  men  in  the  ditches,  poured  in  a 


BRIDGE    OF  STEAMBOATS.  103 

deadly  fire,  and  took  two  hundred  prisoners.     We 
were  not  again  troubled  by  the  enemy. 

Prince  Polignac  commanded  the  rebels  upon  this 
occasion.  It  was  reported  that  he  had  come  to  Loui- 
siana expecting  that  the  Confederacy  w^ould  become 
a  monarchy ;  and  it  probably  would  have  done  so, 
had  the  Eebellion  succeeded.  I  afterward  heard  that 
his  defeat  was  not  very  disagreeable  to  his  brother 
officers,  for  he  was  not  popular  with  them.  Indeed, 
very  few  foreign  officers  were  popular  on  either  side. 
Both  Union  and  rebel  officers  were  very  much  dis- 
posed to  look  upon  it  as  a  family  quarrel,  and  want- 
ed no  interference  from  outsiders. 

We  crossed  the  Atchafalaya  by  a  novel  bridge 
constructed  of  steamboats.  This,  too,  was  Bailey's 
work.  He  anchored  them  side  by  side,  the  bows 
level  with  each  other,  and  placed  planks  across  them. 
The  whole  army,  with  its  baggage-wagons  and  artil- 
lery, crossed  safely  and  rapidly.  A  steam  -  whistle 
sounded,  and  in  ten  minutes  the  bridge  had  disap- 
peared, and  every  boat  was  under  full  headway  to 
its  destination. 

The  writer's  connection  with  the  Department  of 
the  Gulf  now  ceased  for  a  year.  He  obtained  leave 
of  absence,  and  went  North.     But  he  had  scarcely 


I04  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

arrived  there  when  Early  made  his  daring  march 
upon  Washington.  My  leave  was  revoked,  and  I 
was  ordered  to  report  to  Major-general  Gillmore. 
For  a  year  I  remained  in  Virginia,  most  of  the  time 
in  Norfolk,  for  Gillmore  had  been  thrown  from  his 
horse,  and  was  unable  to  take  the  field  in  command 
of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps,  as  had  been  intend- 
ed, and  I  had  been  assigned  to  a  different  duty. 
Early  in  the  spring  of  1865,  on  application  of  Briga- 
dier-general T.  W.  Sherman,  I  was  ordered  again  to 
New  Orleans. 


AT  GRANT'S  HEAD-QUARTERS.  105 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

Visit  to  Grant's  Head-quarters.  —  His  Anecdotes  of  Army  Life.— 
Banks  relieved.— Canby  in  Command.— Bailey  at  Mobile.— Death  of 
Bailey.— Canby  as  a  Civil  Governor.— Confiscated  Property.— Pro- 
poses to  rebuild  Levees.— Is  stopped  by  Sheridan.— Canby  appeals. 
—Is  sustained,  but  too  late.— Levees  destroyed  by  Floods.— Conflict 
of  Jurisdiction.— Action  of  President  Johnson.— Sheridan  abolishes 
Canby's  Provost  Marshal's  Department.— Canby  asks  to  be  recalled. 
—Is  ordered  to  Washington.— To  Galveston.— To  Richmond.— To 
Charleston.— Is  murdered  by  the  Modocs.— His  Character. 

Shortly  after  my  arrival  at  the  North,  I  paid  a 
visit  of  a  few  days  to  Colonel  Badeau  at  Grant's 
head-quarters  at  City  Point.  Badeau  had  been  with 
me  on  Sherman's  staff.  I  staid  at  head-quarters  in  a 
tent  reserved  for  guests,  and  messed  with  the  general 
and  his  staff.  Grant  has  the  reputation  of  being  a 
taciturn  man,  and  he  is  generally  so.  But  when 
seated  on  a  summer's  evening  under  the  awning  in 
front  of  his  tent  with  his  staff,  and,  perhaps,  a  few 
friends  about  him,  he  took  his  share  of  the  conver- 
sation. He  was  full  of  anecdote,  especially  of  army 
life.    He  talked  very  freely,  not  hesitating  to  express 

5* 


lo6  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

his  opinions  of  men  and  things.  Grant  contended 
that  no  commanding  officer  could  succeed  in  the  long 
run,  if  he  were  not  an  honest  and  an  honorable  man. 
He  did  not  care  what  were  his  talents,  he  was  sure 
to  come  to  grief,  and  injure  the  cause  sooner  or  later. 
But  Butler  took  different  ground.  He  held  that  he 
could  appoint  clever  and  energetic  officers  to  com- 
mand, and  benefit  bj  their  talents,  while  he  could 
prevent  their  dishonesty  from  injuring  the  cause. 
Grant  was  undoubtedly  right,  and  Butler  wrong. 

One  evening,  as  we  sat  before  his  tent.  Grant  ob- 
served that  he  had  that  day  sent  orders  to  remove  a 
certain  general  from  high  command  in  the  West.  I 
expressed  my  surprise,  and  said  that  I  had  always 
understood,  and  from  army  men  too,  that  the  officer 
in  question  was  one  of  the  best  of  our  volunteer  gen- 
erals. Grant  took  his  cigar  from  his  mouth,  and  re- 
marked, in  his  quiet  way,  "  He's  too  much  mixed  up 
with  cotton." 

Politics  makes  strange  bed -fellows.  What  a  pity 
that  President  Grant  was  unable  to  carry  into  his 
civil  appointments  the  same  admirable  principle 
upon  which  General  Grant  acted  so  inflexibly  and 
so  successfully  in  his  military  appointments !  The 
officer  whom  he  removed  from  command  as  "too 


GENERAL   JOSEPH  BAILEY.  107 


inucli  mixed  up  with  cotton  "  he  soon  after  appoint- 
ed, under  strong  party  pressure,  to  high  civil  office. 

On  my  return  to  New  Orleans,  I  found  that  Banks 
had  been  relieved,  and  Canby  now  commanded  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf.  He  was  absent,  engaged 
in  the  campaign  against  Mobile,  which  resulted  in 
the  capture  of  that  city.  Here  Bailey  again  distin- 
guished himself.  The  bay  was  strewed  with  torpe- 
does. Bailey  had  no  fear  of  torpedoes.  He  told 
me  that  he  had  often  navigated  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi when  enormous  cakes  of  ice,  swept  along  by 
the  rapid  current,  threatened  to  destroy  the  boat,  but 
that  it  was  easy  enough  by  some  mechanical  contriv- 
ance to  avoid  them.  He  thought  that  torpedoes 
might  be  treated  in  the  same  way.  He  showed  his 
faith  by  his  works.  He  took  the  quartermaster's 
boats  up  without  accident.  The  navy  followed  his 
lead,  and  safely.  But  the  Admiral,  changing  his 
mind,  ordered  some  of  the  boats  back.  In  backing 
down,  two  were  blown  up  and  sunk. 

But  the  war  was  now  near  its  close.  Bailey  was 
shortly  afterward  mustered  out  of  service,  and  return- 
ed to  civil  life.  He  removed  from  Wisconsin  to 
Missouri,  and  settled  in  one  of  the  border  counties. 
Here  he  was  elected  sheriff.    His  end  was  a  sad  one. 


Io8  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

With  his  usual  daring,  he  attempted  to  arrest  two 
noted  desperadoes,  horse  -  thieves,  single-handed. 
They  niurdered  him.  He  had  not  lived  in  vain. 
He  had  rendered  good  service  to  his  country. 

To  return  to  Louisiana.  The  writer  was  now  pro- 
moted to  General  Canby's  staff,  and  became  adju- 
tant-general of  the  Department.  Canby  enjoyed  the 
full  confidence  of  the  Government,  and  most  justly. 
He  had  an  exceedingly  important  command,  extend- 
ing from  St.  Louis  to  the  Gulf,  and  from  Florida  to 
Texas.  "We  had  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  thou- 
sand men  upon  our  rolls.  Canby  was  an  excellent 
military  commander,  but  his  forte  lay  in  civil  gov- 
ernment. Never  was  a  Department  better  governed 
than  was  Louisiana  in  his  day.  A  kind-hearted,  be- 
nevolent gentleman,  he  gave  one  half  of  his  pay  to 
the  rebel  poor.  Often  have  I  seen  his  wife  driving 
about  New  Orleans,  accompanied  by  a  Sister  of  Char- 
ity, dispensing  his  bounty.  A  clear-headed,  just 
man,  he  governed  that  turbulent  city  with  wisdom 
and  justice,  and  with  unflinching  firmness.  There 
were  no  riots  in  his  day.  More  than  once  we  were 
told  that  a  riot  was  planned  for  the  next  day.  Can- 
by  sent  for  Sherman ;  that  night  a  battery  would  be 
quietly  marched  up  from  Jackson  Barracks,  and  sta- 


CONFEDERATE  PROPERTY.  109 


tioned  out  of  sight  in  a  cotton-press.  Yery  early  in 
the  morning  a  company  of  cavalry  picketed  their 
horses  in  Esplanade  Street.  The  quiet  citizens  saw 
nothing  unusual,  but  the  would-be  rioters  of  course 
knew  what  had  been  done,  and  there  was  no  riot. 
Canby  was  relieved ;  Sherman  got  leave  of  absence ; 
and  within  a  month  a  riot  took  place. 

General  Canby  has  saved  millions  of  money  to 
the  United  States.  In  these  days  of  barefaced  raids 
upon  the  Treasury,  under  color  of  bogus  Southern 
claims,  Canby's  foresight  and  care  are  brought  out 
in  strong  relief.  When  the  war  was  ended,  he  re- 
turned all  confiscated  rebel  property  to  its  owners, 
but  he  took  from  them  a  release  to  the  United  States 
for  all  claim  for  rent  or  damage  during  our  occupa- 
tion. These  men's  mouths  are  now  closed.  The 
only  exception  he  made  was  made  most  reluctantly 
under  the  orders  of  Sheridan.  That  great  soldier 
does  not  shine  in  civil  government  as  he  does  in  the 
field.  When  he  arrived  in  New  Orleans,  he  told 
General  Canby  that  he  came  there  to  take  military 
command  ;  that  as  for  civil  matters  he  knew  nothing 
about  them,  and  left  them  all  to  Canby.  Before  a 
month  had  passed  an  order  came  that  General  Canby 
would  please  report  why  he  did  not  return  the  Me- 


no  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

tairie  Ridge  Race-course  to  its  owners.  This  course 
was  owned  by  gamblers.  The  gamblers  of  New  Or- 
leans are  an  institution  and  a  power  in  that  city. 
Canby  replied  with  the  indorsement,  "  Respectfully 
returned  with  a  copy  of  the  order  bearing  date  (a 
month  back)  returning  the  Metairie  Ridge  Race- 
course to  its  owners  on  the  usual  conditions."  The 
order  came  back,  "General  Canby  wdll  return  the 
Metairie  Ridge  Race -course  without  condition." 
Canby  felt  deeply  hurt.  His  carefully  devised  and 
impartially  executed  plan  to  protect  the  Treasury 
had  been  frustrated,  and  this  in  favor  of  a  lot  of 
gamblers.  I  do  not  doubt  that  these  men  are  now 
before  Congress  as  "  loyal  citizens,"  with  their  hum- 
ble petition  for  reimbursement  for  the  occupation  of 
the  race-course  and  the  destruction  of  the  fences. 

Had  Canby  been  permitted  to  have  his  own  way, 
the  levees  in  Louisiana  would  have  been  rebuilt  in 
the  fall  of  1865,  millions  of  money  saved  to  the 
United  States,  and  much  suffering  and  vagabondage 
amonor  the  inhabitants  avoided.  In  1862  Butler  had 
confiscated  the  crops  on  many  abandoned  estates. 
This  property,  when  sold,  realized  a  fund  which  was 
turned  over  to  the  successive  Department  command- 
ers, to  be  used  for  various  public  purposes.     Banks 


THE   LEVEES.  m 


gave  a  monster  concert,  with  artillery  accompani- 
ments, out  of  it,  and  balls,  to  dance  the  fair  Creoles 
into  loyalty.  Canby  proposed  to  rebuild  the  levees. 
In  his  day  the  fund  amounted  to  about  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  He  thought  that  this  money, 
raised  in  Louisiana,  could  with  propriety  be  expend- 
ed in  repairing  the  levees  in  Louisiana.  He  said  ex- 
pressly that  the  rebels  had  no  right  to  this  expendi- 
ture— as  they  had  sown,  so  must  they  reap ;  but  that 
it  was  in  the  interest  of  the  United  States  and  of  hu- 
manity that  he  proposed  to  rebuild  the  levees.  That 
if  this  were  done,  the  people  would  be  occupied,  con- 
tented, and  quiet,  they  would  be  no  expense  to  the 
Government,  and  their  crops  would  add  to  the  gen- 
eral wealth  of  the  country.  That  if  it  were  not  done, 
the  plantations  would  be  overflowed,  the  crops  ru- 
ined, the  inhabitants  discontented,  the  value  of  the 
crops  lost  to  the  country,  and  the  United  States  com- 
pelled, as  a  matter  of  humanity,  to  issue  rations  to 
the  starving  people.  In  the  month  of  October,  1865, 
every  thing  was  ready,  the  unemployed  negroes  en- 
rolled, our  negro  regiments  detailed,  and  the  work 
about  to  commence,  when  it  was  stopped  by  an  order 
from  General  Sheridan.  Of  course  Sheridan  did  not 
do  this  from  any  mere  caprice.     He  had  his  reasons, 


112  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

and  to  his  mind  they  were  conclusive.  But  they 
were  purely  technical  and  narrow.  He  said  that  the 
fund  referred  to  did  not  belong  to  the  Department ; 
that  it  belonged  to  the  Treasury,  or  at  least  to  the 
Quartermaster-general,  and  could  not  be  used  with- 
out his  assent.  Canby  was  always  most  reluctant  to 
appeal  from  his  superior  officer  to  higher  authority, 
but  he  thought  that  in  this  instance  the  interests  of 
his  Department,  and  those  of  the  United  States  itself, 
were  too  deeply  involved  for  him  to  accept  Sheri- 
dan's decision.  He  appealed  to  Washington,  and 
was  sustained.  But  the  Government,  instead  of  or- 
dering him  to  commence  the  work  at  once,  sent  out  a 
board  of  engineers — Barnard  at  the  head — to  survey 
the  levees,  and  agree  upon  plans  for  repairing  them. 
At  length  all  these  most  unnecessary  formalities  were 
got  through  with,  and  Canby  was  ordered  to  proceed 
with  the  work.  This  was  promptly  done.  But  it 
was  now  January,  instead  of  October.  In  February 
the  water  rose,  and  swept  away  all  that  had  been 
done.  All  the  evils  predicted  by  Canby  now  came 
upon  the  country.  And  not  for  that  year  only,  but 
for  several  succeeding  years,  the  Government  was 
compelled  to  feed  a  suffering,  discontented,  and  tur- 
bulent population. 


CONFISCATED   COTTON.  1 13 

Several  nice  and  novel  legal  questions  arose  on  the 
termination  of  the  war  in  reference  to  confiscated 
property.  These  were  determined  by  General  Canby 
so  wisely  and  so  justly  that  the  Quartermaster-gen- 
eral not  unfrequently  sent  to  him  for  copies  of.  his 
orders  as  guides  for  the  Department  at  Washington 
in  its  own  decisions.  I  recollect  one  question  par- 
ticularly, which  brought  him  into  conflict  with  the 
United  States  District  Judge.  It  will  be  remember- 
ed that  at  the  close  of  the  war  an  immense  quantity 
of  cotton  was  found  stored  in  the  by-ways  of  the  Con- 
federacy, especially  far  up  the  Red  Eiver.  Part  of 
this  cotton  was  undoubtedly  liable  to  confiscation, 
but  the  greater  part  was  not.  Treasury  agents 
thronged  all  over  the  South.  The  character  of  these 
men  "left  much  to  be  desired,"  as  the  Frenchman 
politely  puts  it.  They  were  "  on  the  make."  Their 
object  was  to  prove  all  cotton  liable  to  confiscation, 
for  the  law  gave  them  a  large  percentage  of  the  pro- 
ceeds. The  amount  of  perjury  committed  by  these 
men,  and  by  the  professional  perjurers  whom  they 
employed,  was  fearful.  The  effect  was  demoralizing 
to  the  last  degree,  and  exasperated  the  inhabitants ; 
while  it  was  the  object  of  the  Government,  and  the 
earnest  desire  of  the  victorious  North,  to  pacify  the 


114  CAMF,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

South  by  dealing  not  only  justly,  but  generously,  by 
it.  Canby  felt  this,  and  with  his  usual  sagacity  and 
foresight  made  a  proposition  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  which,  if  adopted,  would  have  saved  the 
Government  millions  in  money,  and  more  than  mill- 
ions in  peace  and  good- will.  He  proposed  that  ports 
should  be  designated  on  the  Mississippi  for  the  re- 
ceipt of  cotton;  that  every  pound  arriving  there 
should  pay  the  Government  twenty -five  cents,  or 
fifty  cents  (any  thing  that  the  Government  might 
designate),  and  that  no  questions  should  be  asked  as 
to  its  origin.  Mr.  M'Culloch  replied  that  it  was  an 
admirable  plan,  but  that  there  were  reasons  why  it 
could  not  be  adopted.  The  reason,  I  fear,  was  the 
influence  brought  to  bear  at  Washington  by  the  nas- 
cent race  of  carpet-baggers.  There  was  money  in 
the  Treasury-agent  system. 

This  system  led,  as  I  have  said,  to  a  collision  be- 
tween the  military  and  the  judicial  authorities  in 
New  Orleans,  which  in  any  other  hands  than  Can- 
by's  might  have  been  serious.  M'Culloch  wrote  to 
the  general  asking  him  to  sustain  his  agents  with  the 
-military  power  in  their  seizure  of  cotton.  Canby 
of  course  replied  that  he  would  do  so.  Shortly  aft- 
erward an  agent  applied  to  us  for  a  military  force. 


UNITED  STATES  DISTRICT  COURT.  I15 

He  had  seized  a  lot  of  cotton,  and  brought  it  to  Kew 
Orleans.  The  owner,  an  alleged  Union  man,  had 
applied  to  the  United  States  District  Court,  and  the 
United  States  Marshal  had  been  ordered  to  take  pos- 
session of  it.  He  attempted  to  do  so,  but  was,  of 
course,  repulsed  by  the  military,  the  city  being  still 
under  martial  law.  The  judge  thereupon  issued  an 
order  for  Canby  to  appear  before  him,  and  show 
cause  why  he  held  the  cotton  against  the  process  of 
the  court.  The  order  was  an  impertinent  one ;  for 
the  judge  knew  well  enough  that  the  city  was  still 
under  martial  law.  The  judge  was  that  Durell  who 
afterward  came  to  grief.  But  Canby  always  showed 
the  greatest  respect  to  the  judiciary.  I  remember, 
as  if  it  were  yesterday,  seeing  him  start  for  the 
court-room  at  the  appointed  time,  in  full  uniform, 
accompanied  by  Major  De  Witt  Clinton,  his  judge- 
advocate.  His  return  to  the  order  of  the  coui*t  was 
to  my  mind  conclusive.  He  said,  substantially,  that 
the  United  States  District  Court  was  a  creation  of 
the  law ;  that  it  possessed  precisely  those  powers 
which  had  been  conferred  upon  it  by  Congress,  and 
no  others ;  that  if  this  cotton  had  been  captured  by 
the  navy  on  the  high  seas,  he  should  have  surren- 
dered it  at  once  on  the  order  of  the  judge,  for  the 


ii6  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

court  was  clothed  with  admiralty  jurisdiction,  but 
that  it  had  no  military  jurisdiction,  and  that  he  had 
no  right  to  surrender,  and  might  be  held  responsi- 
ble for  surrendering,  powers  which,  under  martial 
law,  were  vested  in  him  alone.  The  judge  reserved 
his  decision.  The  claimant's  lawyers  telegraphed  to 
the  President ;  and  Johnson,  who  was  then  begin- 
ning to  coquet  with  the  Democrats,  contrary  to  Stan- 
ton's advice,  and  without  waiting  for  Canby's  report, 
ordered  the  cotton  to  be  given  up,  to  the  general's 
great  satisfaction  ;  for  it  soiled  the  fingers  of  every 
one  who  touched  it. 

General  Canby  had  now  been  thwarted  twice  by 
General  Sheridan  in  purely  civil  matters  —  matters 
belonging  properly  to  the  commander  of  the  De- 
partment. He  felt  as  if  his  usefulness  were  gone, 
and  prepared  a  letter  to  the  Adjutant-general  asking 
to  be  relieved  from  liis  command,  and  ordered  else- 
where. He  showed  me  this  letter.  I  felt  that  his 
loss  to  the  Department  would  be  irreparable,  and  I 
persuaded  him  to  withhold  it.  But  shortly  after- 
ward Sheridan  again  interfered  with  the  civil  gov- 
ernment of  the  city,  and  this  time  by  breaking  up 
the  provost  -  marshal's  department  of  General  Can- 
by's own  staff.     It  is  a  matter  of  great  delicacy  for 


GENERAL   CANBY.  iiy 

one  general  to  interfere  with  the  staff  of  another. 
Canby  felt  deeply  hurt,  and  told  me  that  he  should 
forward  his  letter  to  Washington.  Of  course  I 
could  no  longer  object ;  for  it  seemed  to  me  that 
seK- respect  left  him  no  choice.  He  was  relieved 
at  once,  for  he  was  all-powerful  with  Stanton,  who 
had  the  highest  esteem  and  regard  for  him,  and 
unbounded  confidence  in  his  integrity  and  wisdom. 
He  was  made  president  of  a  most  important  board 
on  war  claims,  sitting  at  Washington.  But  shortly 
afterward  there  was  disturbance  in  Texas,  and  Can- 
by  was  immediately  sent  there.  Again,  there  was 
disturbance  in  Virginia,  and  Canby  was  transferred 
to  Richmond.  Then  came  difficulty  in  South  Caro- 
lina, and  at  once  Canby  was  ordered  to  Charleston. 
Wherever  he  went,  order  and  tranquillity  followed 
his  footsteps. 

This  wise,  great,  and  good  man  lost  his  life  mis- 
erably. He  fell  a  victim  to  the  Peace  Commission. 
He  commanded  the  Department  in  which  Captain 
Jack  and  those  wretched  Modocs  gave  us  so  much 
trouble.  Although  the  force  operating  against  the 
Indians  numbered  but  five  hundred  men,  and  the 
weather  was  so  severe  that  the  ink  froze  in  his  tent, 
Canby  thought  it  his  duty  to  go  in  person  to  the 


Ii8  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

"  Lava  Beds."  Here  he  was  rapidly  uneartliing  the 
savages  from  ^'  their  caves  and  dens  in  the  rocks," 
when  the  Peace  Commission  begged  him  to  send 
the  Indians  a  flag  of  truce  and  invite  them  to  a 
"talk."  He  replied  that  it  was  useless;  that  he 
knew  the  Indians  far  better  than  those  gentlemen 
could ;  and  that  the  best  and  most  humane  method 
was  to  follow  up  his  military  advantages.  They  en- 
treated, and  appealed  to  his  love  of  peace.  He  yield- 
ed, went  unarmed  and  without  escort  to  the  confer- 
ence, and  was  murdered  by  the  savages.  Thus  died 
one  of  the  best,  ablest,  and  purest  men  the  war  had 
brought  to  the  front. 

The  writer  left  Louisiana  in  June,  1866,  and  short- 
ly aftei-ward,  on  his  own  request,  was  mustered  out 
of  the  service.  He  looks  back  with  pleasure  to 
the  years  passed  in  that  lovely  and  fruitful  land. 
He  regrets  the  evil  days  which  have  fallen  upon  it, 
and  can  not  but  think  that  the  upright  and  honor- 
able men  whom  he  knew  there — and  there  are  plenty 
of  them  among  its  inhabitants — must  regret  the  loss 
of  the  rule  of  justice,  law,  order,  and  economy  under 
Canby,  when  they  contrast  it  with  the  infamous  rule 
of  the  carpet-baggers — fraud  and  corruption  on  one 
side  met  by  violence  and  intimidation  on  the  other. 


GENERAL  DIX.  1 19 


CHAPTEE  X. 

The  "Writer  appointed  Assistant  Secretary  of  Legation  to  Paris. — Pre- 
sented to  the  Emperor. — Court  Balls. — Diplomatic  Dress. — Opening 
of  Corps  Legislatif . — Opening  of  Parliament. — King  of  the  Belgians. 
— Emperor  of  Austria. — King  of  Prussia.— Queen  Augusta. — Em- 
peror Alexander. —  Attempt  to  assassinate  him. — Ball  at  Russian 
Embassy. — Resignation  of  General  Dix. 

In  October,  1866,  at  the  request  of  General  Canby, 
Mr.  Seward  appointed  the  writer  to  be  Assistant 
Secretary  of  Legation  at  Paris.  Johnson  was  then 
President,  but  he  very  properly  left  all  these  minor 
appointments  in  the  State  Department  to  its  chief. 
Frederic  Seward  told  me  that  it  was  impossible  to 
have  a  better  friend  at  their  court  than  General  Can- 
by — "  they  always  accepted  his  bills  at  sight." 

General  Dix  had  then  been  named  Minister  to 
France,  but  had  not  sailed.  Mr.  Bigelow  still  filled 
the  office.  On  presenting  my  credentials,  he  re- 
quested me  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  General  before 
entering  upon  my  duties,  that  the  proposed  changes 
might  all  be  made  at  the  same  time. 

Late  in  December  General  Dix  arrived,  and  was 


120  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

presented.  Court  carriages  were  sent  for  the  min- 
ister, and  he  was  accompanied  by  the  secretaries  of 
legation,  and  by  the  ^' Introducteur  des  Ambassa- 
deurs"  in  gorgeous  uniform.  Those  were  the  hal- 
cyon days  of  the  diplomatic  service,  before  Congress 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  safety  of  the 
republic  depended  upon  its  foreign  representatives 
beinof  dressed  in  swallow-tail  coats.  We  were  then 
permitted  to  dress  like  other  gentlemen  of  the  diplo- 
matic corps  in  the  same  grade. 

The  Emperor  was  always  happy  in  his  reception  of 
the  diplomates  accredited  to  him.  The  custom  was 
to  send  in  advance  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
a  copy  of  the  address  to  be  delivered,  that  the  Em- 
peror's reply  might  be  prepared.  These  speeches, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  might  be  stereotyped : 
change  the  names,  and  one  will  answer  for  another. 
After  the  formal  addresses,  an  informal  conversation 
followed.  General  Dix  then  presented  the  secreta- 
ries. The  Emperor  spoke  English  very  well,  and 
liked  to  ventilate  it.  He  did  not  speak  it  perfectly, 
however,  as  was  claimed  by  his  enthusiastic  admirers. 
He  translated  French  into  English,  as  we  so  often 
translate  English  into  French.  He  said,  for  instance, 
to  Colonel  Hay,  "  You  have  made  ze  war  in  ze  Uni- 


COURT  BALLS.  12 1 


ted  States  T  ("  Yous  avez  fait  la  guerre  f ")  mean- 
ing, "Did  you  serve?"  Hay  was  strongly  tempted 
to  tell  him  that  it  was  not  he ;  it  was  Jeff  Davis. 

After  the  presentation  to  the  Emperor,  we  paid  our 
respects  to  the  Empress.  That  charming  and  beau- 
tiful woman  was  then  in  the  zenith  of  her  beauty 
and  grace.  She  received  us  in  her  bonnet  and  walk- 
ing-dress, as  she  had  come  from  mass ;  for  in  Catho- 
lic countries  diplomatic  presentations  generally  take 
place  on  Sunday.  Nor  in  Catholic  countries  only, 
for  in  England  the  Prince  of  Wales  sometimes  re- 
ceives on  that  day.  The  Empress  too  speaks  En- 
glish, and  with  less  accent  than  the  Emperor,  though 
not  so  fluently. 

The  imperial  court  in  1866-67  was  at  the  height 
of  its  splendor.  France  was  apparently  prosperous 
and  powerful,  and  Paris  reigned  the  queen -city  of 
the  world.  All  nations  paid  her  willing  tribute. 
She  was  preparing  for  the  Exhibition  of  1867,  the 
most  successful  ever  held,  except  our  own  at  Phila- 
delphia. The  winter  was  unusually  gay,  the  palace 
setting  the  example.  As  a  rule,  the  Emperor  gave 
four  grand  balls  during  the  season.  They  were  very 
magnificent,  and  would  have  been  very  pleasant  ex- 
cept for  the  great  crowd.    But  those  balls  were  given 

6 


122  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

principally  to  the  military,  and  the  garrison  of  Paris 
thronged  them  to  the  number  of  two  or  three  thou- 
sand. Some  of  the  subordinate  officers  were  wholly 
unused  to  any  other  society  than  that  of  the  barracks, 
and  they  brought  their  barrack  manners  with  them, 
crowding,  pushing,  treading  upon  the  ladies'  dress- 
es, scratching  their  shoulders  with  theu'  epaulets. 
When  the  supper -room  was  opened,  the  Centgarde 
on  duty  at  the  door  had  great  difficulty  in  keeping 
back  the  hungry  crowd.  Once  they  actually  broke 
through  and  rushed  in.  The  sentries  were  there- 
upon doubled,  but  even  then  were  compelled  to 
threaten  to  report  the  most  prominent  disturbers 
to  the  Emperor.  Every  private  in  the  Centgardes 
ranked  as  an  officer  of  the  army. 

It  may  interest  some  of  my  readers  to  know  how 
presentations  were  made  at  these  balls.  The  United 
States  Minister  was  allowed  to  present  twenty -six 
persons  in  all.  They  were  selected  generally  upon 
the  principle  of  first  come,  first  served ;  but  the  mat- 
ter rested  wholly  in  his  discretion.  JSTo  one  had  a 
right  to  a  presentation.  Mr.  Seward  settled  this  in 
a  clear  and  positive  dispatch  to  Mr.  Dayton,  and  his 
instructions  now  regulate  the  action  of  our  ministers 
in  most  of  the  courts  of  Europe.     Occasionally  we 


PRESENTATIONS  AT  COURT.  123 

asked  for  one  or  two  extra  presentations.  The  in- 
quiry was  then  generally  made,  "Is  it  a  young  and 
pretty  woman  ?"  If  it  were,  there  was  no  difficul- 
ty, for  the  Empress,  like  other  ladies,  was  pleased  to 
have  her  balls  set  off  with  beautiful  and  well-dressed 
women.  American  ladies  were  always  well  received 
by  her  for  this  reason.  Her  balls  were  sometimes 
called  by  the  envious  "  hals  americainsP 

The  persons  to  be  presented  were  arranged  round 
one  of  the  rooms  at  the  Tuileries.  The  Emperor 
entered  and  passed  down  the  line,  each  person  being 
named  to  him.  He  sometimes  stopped,  though  rare- 
ly, and  addressed  a  few  words  to  one  of  the  pres- 
entees. The  Empress  followed  in  the  same  manner. 
She  exacted  that  every  lady  should  be  in  full  even- 
ing dress,  and  if  by  chance  one  slipped  in  not  decol- 
leUe,  the  minister  was  pretty  sure  to  hear  of  it.  Gen- 
eral Dix  was  once  asked  to  present  a  young  lady 
with  her  mother.  He  consented.  She  turned  out 
to  be  a  child  of  fourteen.  Before  many  days  he 
heard  that  the  Empress  had  said  that  she  did  not 
receive  children. 

But  the  Empress's  Mondays,  J9^fo*^5  lunclis,  were 
charming.  They  were  not  unpleasantly  crowded, 
and  they  were  composed  exclusively  of  people  who 


124  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

knew  how  to  behave  themselves.  Frequently  they 
were  musical  parties,  and  there  one  heard  the  best 
musical  talent  of  the  world.  Ko  money  was  paid  to 
the  leading  artists ;  for  the  theory  is  that  the  honor 
of  singing  before  the  sovereign  is  suflScient;  but  a 
bracelet  or  other  piece  of  jewelry  was  sent  to  the 
singer,  and  always  of  value,  for  the  Emperor  was 
very  generous  —  too  much  so  for  his  own  interests 
and  those  of  his  family,  as  events  have  shown. 

The  petits  lundis  were  a  paradise  for  our  Amer- 
ican diplomates.  There  we  wore  our  swallow-tail 
coats,  with  black  tights  and  silk  stockings.  The 
most  rabid  anti-uniformist  could  not  object  to  that. 
To  wear  swallow  -  tail  at  one  of  the  balls,  however, 
was  by  no  means  a  pleasant  duty.  After  one  or  two 
experiments  our  secretaries  gave  up  going.  The 
French  officers — not  those  of  high  rank,  of  course — 
would  stare  with  all  the  impertinence  they  could 
muster,  and  take  the  opportunity  to  jostle  them  ac- 
cidentally in  the  crowd.  It  was  very  different  in 
London.  If  one  of  us  went  to  a  ball  at  Buckingham 
Palace  in  mufti,  the  page  at  the  door  simply  asked, 
"  United  States,  sir  ?"  and  he  passed  in  without  dif- 
ficulty. Of  course  every  one  present  noticed  the 
dress,  but  no  one  appeared  to  do  so.     They  evident- 


OPENING   OF   THE   CORPS  LEGISLATIF.         125 

ly  felt  sorry  for  tlie  poor  devil  who  found  himself 
in  such  an  awkward  fix,  and  wished  to  make  it  as 
easy  for  him  as  possible.  French  politeness  did  not 
shine  by  the  contrast. 

Early  in  the  winter  the  Emperor  opened  the  Corps 
Legislatif.  In  all  constitutional  naonarchies  this  is 
an  occasion  of  great  ceremony  and  splendor.  A  hall 
in  the  Louvre  was  used  for  the  purpose.  All  the 
great  bodies  of  state  attended  in  their  gorgeous  uni- 
forms. Senators,  deputies,  judges,  members  of  the 
Academy  and  of  the  Institute,  marshals,  adjnirals 
— every  thing  that  France  possessed  of  glorious  in 
arms,  or  eminent  in  literature,  science,  art,  and  states- 
manship), was  congregated  there.  When  all  was 
ready,  the  Empress,  attended  by  the  ladies  of  the  im- 
perial family,  and  by  her  ladies  in  waiting,  walked 
up  the  whole  length  of  the  centre  aisle  to  her  seat 
on  the  throne,  amidst  the  indescribable  enthusiasm 
of  the  audience.  Her  beauty,  her  grace,  and  her 
stately  bearing  carried  the  enthusiasm  to  its  height. 
You  would  have  sworn  that  every  man  there  was 
ready  to  die  for  his  sovereign.  Within  less  than 
four  years  she  sought  in  vain  for  one  of  them  to 
stand  by  her  in  her  hour  of  danger. 

The  opening  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  splendid  and 


126  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD   SIEGE. 

interesting  as  it  was,  did  not  compare  in  either  re- 
spect— in  American  eyes,  at  least — with  the  open- 
ing of  Parliament  by  the  Queen  in  person.  She  has 
done  this  so  rarely  of  late  that,  when  she  does  ap- 
pear, the  interest  and  excitement  in  London  are  very 
great.  The  ceremony  takes  i^lace  in  the  House  of 
Lords.  The  peers  are  in  their  robes  of  office,  scarlet 
and  ermine.  Each  particular  robe  is  ugly  enough, 
very  much  like  red  flannel  and  cat-skin  ;  but  the  ef- 
fect of  all  together  is  very  fine.  The  peeresses  are 
in  full  dress.  The  diplomatic  corps  are  ]3resent  in 
their  rich  uniforms.  The  princes  enter  and  take 
their  seats  as  lords.  That  graceful  and  beautiful 
woman,  the  Princess  of  "Wales  —  perhaps  the  most 
beautiful  woman  in  England  —  and  the  Princess 
Mary  and  the  Duchess  of  Edinburgh,  follow  and 
take  their  seats  upon  the  wool -sack  facing  the 
throne.  When  all  is  ready,  the  Queen,  preceded  by 
the  white  rod  and  the  black  rod  (they  call  them  the 
"sticks"  in  England),  the  lord  chancellor  and  the 
lord  chamberlain,  and  all  her  high  officers  of  state, 
appears  and  seats  herself  upon  the  throne,  the  Prin- 
cess Louise  and  the  Princess  Beatrice  supporting  her 
on  either  side.  Short  and  stout  as  is  the  Queen, 
she  has  the  most  graceful  and  stately  walk  perhaps 


SOVEREIGNS    VISITING  EXHIBITION.  127 

in  Europe.  It  is  a  treat  to  see  her  move.  Then  the 
lower  doors  are  opened ;  there  is  a  rush  and  a  scram- 
ble, and  loud  voices  are  heard,  and  the  Commons  of 
England,  headed  by  their  Speaker,  the  very  body  for 
whom  all  this  show  and  state  and  splendor  are  got 
up,  crowd  into  a  narrow  space  behind  a  railing,  and 
there  stand  while  the  Queen  reads  her  speech.  It 
seems  strange,  when  one  reflects  that  the  Commons 
really  govern  England,  to  see  them  shut  out  in  the 
cold  as  if  they  were  not  fit  to  associate  with  the  dis- 
tinguished company  present.  When  the  speech  is 
finished,  the  Speaker  bows,  the  Queen  descends  from 
the  throne,  the  Commons  return  to  theii'  House,  and 
the  pageant  is  ended. 

The  Great  Exhibition  opened  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1867.  It  was  not  nearly  ready,  but  was  opened 
punctually  to  the  day  with  all  the  well  -  arranged 
ceremony  for  which  the  French  are  noted.  The 
sovereigns  of  Europe  began  to  flock  to  Paris.  "  The 
Grand  Duchess  of  Gerolstein  "  was  then  in  the  full 
tide  of  success  at  one  of  the  theatres.  It  was  odd 
to  note  that  among  the  flrst  visits  the  great  roy- 
alties paid  (the  Emperor  of  Eussia  and  the  King 
of  Prussia)  was  one  to  "  The  Grand  Duchess." 
The  minor  sovereigns,  the  kinglings,  rarely  went; 


128  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

and   when    tliej   did,    tliej    saw    nothing    amusing 
in  it. 

The  diplomatic  corps  had  admirable  opportunities 
to  see  the  different  sovereigns  visiting  Paris.  It  is 
the  custom  for  a  monarch  to  receive  the  diplomatic 
corps  accredited  to  the  capital  at  which  he  is  a  guest. 
"We  stood  in  a  cii'cle,  and,  while  the  royal  visitor 
talked  to  our  own  minister  and  to  those  near  him  on 
either  side,  we  had  excellent  opportunities  to  study 
his  features,  expression,  and  manners.  The  most 
agreeable  of  them  all,  ^vith  an  apt  word  for  every 
one,  was  the  King  of  the  Belgians.  He  had  a  great 
deal  to  say  to  General  Dix  about  Mr.  Seward,  whom 
he  had  known,  and  the  port  of  Antwerp  as  con- 
venient for  American  shipping.  He  spoke  English 
admirably.  He  was  accompanied  by  the  Queen,  a 
young  and  pretty  woman,  who,  by-the-way,  was  the 
only  sovereign  lady  who  came  to  the  Exposition, 
much  to  the  Empress's  disappointment,  and  some- 
what, it  was  said,  to  her  mortification.  Next  in  tact 
to  the  King  of  the  Belgians  came  the  Emperor  of 
Austria,  a  small,  well-made,  military  -  looking  man, 
with  most  polished  manners.  He  spoke  to  me — for 
General  Dix  was  then  temporarily  absent  —  of  his 
brother,  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  and  expressed  his 


EMPEROR  ALEXANDER.  129 

gratitude  to  our  Government  for  its  efforts  to  save 
his  life.  Later,  while  charge  at  London,  I  met  the 
Empress  of  Germany.  She,  too,  has  the  gift  of  say- 
ing the  right  thing  in  the  right  place.  I  heard  her 
conversation  with  two  or  three  of  my  colleagues  who 
stood  near  me.  It  was  always  happy.  To  me  she 
spoke  of  all  that  the  Legation  at  Paris  had  done  to 
protect  '^  mes  jpauvres  Allemcmds  dans  ces  tristes^  ces 
^enibles  cir Constances. ^^  She  was  glad  to  have  the 
opportunity  to  thank  me  in  person,  and  wished  me 
to  convey  her  thanks  to  Mr.  Washburne. 

But  the  chief  guest,  the  man  to  whom  all  eyes 
were  turned,  was  the  Emperor  of  Kussia,  a  pale, 
handsome,  silent,  gentlemanly -looking  man.  For 
him  reviews  were  held,  gala  operas  given,  and  mag- 
nificent fetes  at  the  Tuileries  and  at  the  Hotel  de 
Yille.  I  doubt  if  the  world  ever  saw  a  more  beau- 
tiful fete  than  that  given  to  him  by  the  Empress  at 
the  Tuileries.  It  was  summer,  the  month  of  June. 
The  gardens  of  the  palace  were  closed  to  the  public. 
The  flower-beds  (the  flowers  were  then  in  full  bloom) 
were  bordered  with  gas-jets,  the  trees  were  festoon- 
ed with  variegated  lamps,  the  fountains  played,  and 
electric  lights — blue,  pink,  and  yellow — were  thrown 
alternately  upon  the  sparkling  waters.     It  was  very 

6* 


130  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

beautiful.  And  when,  at  midnight,  the  Empress,  ac- 
companied by  a  number  of  ladies,  and  by  the  Emper- 
ors and  their  suites,  descended  into  the  gardens,  and 
the  electric  light  flashed  on  their  bright  dresses  and 
jewels,  and  brilliant  uniforms,  the  effect  was  fairy- 
like. 

The  review  was  next  in  order.  Sixty  thousand 
men  passed  before  the  Emperors  without  check  or 
delay.  The  King  of  Prussia  was  present,  accompa- 
nied by  Bismarck  and  Moltke.  Bismarck  even  then 
attracted  much  attention.  I  have  rarely  seen  a  finer- 
looking  man.  More  than  six  feet  high,  large  and 
powerful  in  proportion,  with  a  grand  head  well  set 
upon  the  shoulders,  he  looks  like  Agamemnon — 
"  king  of  men." 

It  was  on  the  return  from  this  review  that  the 
Emperor  of  Kussia  was  shot  at  by  a  Pole.  Fortu- 
nately, he  was  not  hit.  The  only  creature  hurt  was 
the  horse  of  one  of  the  equerries.  The  blood  spurt- 
ed from  a  wound  in  the  animal's  neck  upon  the  Em- 
peror's second  son,  who  was  in  the  carriage  with 
him.  The  father's  only  thought  was  for  his  son ; 
and,  leaning  forward,  he  laid  his  hand  tenderly  upon 
him  while  he  anxiously  inquired  if  he  was  wounded. 
It  was  reported  that  the  Emperor  of  the  French 


BALL  AT  THE   RUSSIAN  EMBASSY.  131 


turned  to  liis  imperial  guest,  and  said,  "  Sire,  we  have 
been  under  fire  together  for  the  first  time  to-day ;" 
to  which  the  Emperor  rephed,  with  much  solemnity 
of  manner,  "  Sire,  we  are  in  the  hands  of  Provi- 
dence." 

That  evening  I  saw  him  at  a  ball  at  the  Russian 
embassy.  It  was  very  small,  not  more  than  two  hun- 
dred persons  present.  He  looked  pale  and  distrait^ 
evidently  anticipating,  with  some  apprehension,  the 
effect  to  be  produced  in  Eussia,  and  upon  her  rela- 
tions with  France,  when  the  news  should  reach  St. 
Petersburg.  Madame  Haussmann,  the  wife  of  the 
Prefect  of  the  Seine,  a  well-meaning  woman,  but 
who  did  not  shine  precisely  by  her  tact,  was  trying 
to  make  conversation  with  him.  He  looked  over 
her  head,  as  if  he  did  not  see  her,  and  finally  turned 
upon  his  heel  and  left  her.  It  was  not  perhaps  po- 
lite, but  it  was  very  natural.  The  Emperor  and  Em- 
press of  the  French  made  extraordinary  exertions  to 
enliven  the  ball,  but  there  was  a  perceptible  oppres- 
sion in  the  air.  The  would-be  assassin  was  not  con- 
demned to  death.  Strange  to  say,  a  French  jury 
found  "  extenuating  circumstances."  But  the  French 
sympathize  strongly  with  the  Poles  ;  and  I  doubt  if, 
under  any  circumstances,  a  French  jury  would  con- 


132  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

demn  to  deatli  a  Pole  who  liad  attempted  to  murder 
a  Russian. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  is  a  man  of  the  highest 
sense  of  personal  honor.  "When  lately  he  sought  an 
interview  with  the  English  embassador,  and  assured 
him  on  his  honor  that  he  had  no  thought  of  con- 
quest, or  any  desire  to  occupy  Constantinople,  those 
who  know  his  character  believed  him  implicitly.  It 
was  reserved  for  certain  ultra  Tory  journals  in  Lon- 
don to  doubt  his  word.  Ko  language  would  be 
strong  enough  for  these  journals  to  employ  if  a 
Russian  newspaper  were  to  doubt  the  word  of  honor 
of  Lord  Derby  or  any  other  prominent  English  gen- 
tleman. Happily,  the  Standard  and  its  confreres 
do  not  yet  direct  public  opinion  in  England. 

In  the  fall  of  1867,  the  Exhibition  closed  with 
great  ceremony,  and  Paris  settled  down  for  a  time 
to  the  even  tenor  of  its  way.  In  1868,  General 
Grant  was  elected  President,  and  was  inaugurated 
in  1869.  In  the  spring  of  this  year  General  Dix 
resigned.  He  preferred  the  comforts  of  his  home, 
with  the  society  of  his  children  and  grandchildren, 
to  the  attractions  of  the  imperial  court.  I^o  min- 
ister ever  represented  the  United  States  with  more 
dignity  than  General  Dix.     A  man  of  marked  abil- 


GENERAL  DIX.  133 


ity,  an  accomplished  scholar  and  gentleman,  he  pos- 
sessed precisely  those  qualities  which  are  the  most 
highly  prized  at  a  court  like  that  of  France.  The 
ladies,  too,  of  his  family  shone  in  their  sphere ;  a 
matter  of  much  greater  importance  than  is  generally 
supposed  in  our  country.  The  general  has  left  a 
very  pleasant  impression  in  France ;  and  not  unfre- 
quently  since  the  fall  of  the  empire  I  have  been 
stopped  in  the  street  by  some  sad  looking  ex-official 
with  inquiries  after  his  health. 


134  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

Washburne  appointed  Minister.  — Declaration  of  War.  — Thiers  op- 
poses it.— The  United  States  asked  to  protect  Germans  in  France. 
— Fish's  Instructions.  —  Assent  of  French  Government  given. — 
Paris  m  War-paint. — The  Emperor  opposed  to  War. — Not  a  Free 
Agent — His  Entourage. — Marshal  Le  B«uf. 

In  the  montli  of  May,  1869,  Mr.  Waslibume  ar- 
rived in  France,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his 
.office.  In  the  mean  time  I  had  been  promoted,  at  the 
request  of  General  Dix,  to  be  secretary  of  legation. 
At  Mr.  Washburne's  request,  I  was  retained  in  that 
position.  Paris  was  uneasy  and  restless.  Conspira- 
cies against  the  empire  were  rife.  The  Eepublicans, 
as  they  called  themselves — Padicals  is  a  better  name 
for  the  majority  of  them — became  bold  and  defiant. 
France  was  jealous,  too,  of  the  renown  acquired  by 
Prussia  at  Sadowa.  She  had  been  so  accustomed  to 
consider  herself,  and  to  be  considered,  the  first  mili- 
tary power  in  the  world,  that  she  could  not  bear  the 
semblance  of  a  rival  near  the  throne.  The  Emperor 
was  suffering  from  the  disease  of  which  he  afterward 
died,  and  no   longer  governed  with  "  the  hand  of 


DECLARATION  OF   WAR.  135 

steel  in  the  glove  of  silk  "  always  needed  in  France. 
The  Churcli  was  alarmed  at  the  rise  of  a  great  Prot- 
estant power,  and  the  Empress  sympathized  with  her 
Chnrch.  In  short,  public  sentiment  had  reached 
such  a  pass  in  France,  or  rather  in  Paris,  which  is 
France,  that  the  Emperor  was  compelled  to  choose 
between  war  and  revolution.  He  naturally  chose 
war.  It  was  definitely  resolved  upon  on  the  15tli 
July,  1870,  but  not  officially  declared  until  the  19th. 
I  was  charge  d'affaires^  Mr.  Washburne  being  absent 
at  Carlsbad. 

On  the  13th  of  July  I  went  to  the  sitting  of  the 
Corps  Legislatif  to  learn  what  were  the  prospects  of 
war.  In  the  tribune  of  the  diplomatic  corps  I  met 
the  Spanish  Embassador.  He  told  me  that  peace 
was  assured,  as  he  had  persuaded  Prince  Hohenzol- 
lern  to  decline  the  proffered  crown  of  Spain,  and  that 
now  nothing  remained  to  fight  about.  On  the  14th, 
I  went  again.  I  found  Lord  Lyons  there,  and,  fall- 
ing into  conversation  with  him,  he  left  the  impres- 
sion upon  my  mind  that  there  would  be  war,  for  the 
proffered  mediation  of  England  had  failed.  Lord 
Lyons  had  come  to  the  sitting  expecting  to  hear  an 
authoritative  declaration  by  the  Government,  and 
this  declaration  he  thought  would  be  warlike.     I  at 


136  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

once  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Fisli  that  the  chances  were 
strongly  in  favor  of  war.  This,  and  all  our  subse- 
quent telegrams  in  cipher,  were  delayed  by  the 
French  Government  for  twenty-four  hours,  probably 
with  a  view  to  decipher  them.  On  the  15th  I  was 
again  at  the  seance^  and  heard  the  warlike  decla- 
ration made  by  the  Government.  It  was  not  the 
formal  declaration  of  war,  but  was  equivalent  to  it. 
Thereupon  Mr.  Thiers  rose,  and  attempted  to  address 
the  House  in  a  speech  deprecating  hostilities.  The 
scene  that  followed  was  indescribable  and  most  dis- 
graceful to  any  legislative  body.  The  great  mass  of 
the  members  sprung  to  their  feet,  pointed  their  fin- 
gers at  the  orator,  yelled,  and  shouted  ''Traitre^  trai- 
t/re !  AUez  a  Berlin  /"  The  little  man  stood  like  a 
rock,  and  when  the  tumult  had  somewhat  subsided, 
I  could  hear  his  shrill,  piping  voice  raised  in  solemn 
warning  against  the  step  they  were  about  to  take. 
The  Government  had  stated  that  their  embassador 
had  been  insulted  by  the  King  of  Prussia.  Mr. 
Thiers  asked  that  the  dispatches  might  be  produced, 
that  the  Assembly  might  judge  for  itself.  This  the 
Government  refused ;  and,  on  a  show  of  hands,  but 
twenty  members — among  whom  were  Favre,  Arago, 
Simon,  Pelletan,  and  others,  most  of  them  afterward 


UNITED  STATES   TO  PROTECT  GERMANS.     137 

prominent  in  the  Government  of  the  National  De- 
fense— voted  with  Thiers. 

While  the  debate  was  proceeding  I  was  called  out 
by  the  messenger  of  the  Legation,  with  word  that 
the  German  Embassador  was  very  anxious  to  see  me. 
As  soon  as  the  proceedings  in  the  Corps  Legislatif 
were  ended,  I  went  to  the  German  embassy.  The 
embassador  told  me  that  he  had  been  instructed  by 
his  Government  to  ask  the  United  States  Legation 
at  Paris  to  assume  the  protection  of  the  North  Ger- 
mans in  France  dm-ing  the  coming  war.  I  saw  at 
once  the  importance  of  this  step,  the  compliment 
paid  us  by  a  great  power  like  Germany,  and  the  ad- 
vantages to  the  country.  I  replied  that  I  felt  confi- 
dent that  my  Government  would  gladly  assume  the 
charge ;  that  if  there  were  no  cable  across  the  Atlan- 
tic, and  it  were  necessary  to  say  ^' Yes"  or  "No"  at 
once,  I  should  say  "Yes;"  but  as  there  was  telegraph- 
ic communication,  and  I  could  receive  an  answer  in 
forty-eight  hours,  I  must  ask  instructions  from  Mr. 
Fish.  He  appeared  to  be  disappointed,  and  inquired 
when  I  could  give  him  an  answer,  as  he  must  leave 
Paris  in  two  days.  He  evidently  desired  the  mat- 
ter to  be  settled  before  he  left.  I  told  him  that  I 
thought  I  should  receive  a  reply  within  that  time. 


ijS  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

I  went  at  once  to  the  office,  ana  telegraphed  Mr. 
Fish  as  follows.  This  telegram,  like  the  other,  was 
detained  for  twenty-fom*  hours  by  the  French  Gov- 
ernment. 

"Paris,  July  15th,  18 YO. 

"Fish  —  Washington: — TVar  is  certain.  Can  I 
take  Prussian  subjects  in  France  under  our  protec- 
tion ?     Have  promised  answer  to-morrow. 

"  Hoffman." 

On  the  17th  I  received  Mr.  Fish's  answer,  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Washington,  July  16th,  18*70. 

"Protection  of  IS'orth  Germans  in  French  terri- 
tory by  American  representative  can  only  be  given 
at  request  of  Korth  Germany,  and  with  assent  of 
France.  Examine  request  of  Mr.  Moustier  of  July 
16th,  1867,  to  United  States  to  protect  French  in 
Mexico.  Fisn." 

On  receipt  of  this  instruction,  I  wrote  at  once  to 
the  Duke  de  Gramont,  to  ask  for  the  assent  of  the 
French  Government.     My  note  was  as  follows : 

"  Legation  of  the  United  States, 
Paris,July  nth,  1870. 

"  Sm, — I  was  requested  by  the  embassador  of  the 
North  German  Confederation,  before  his  departure 
from  Paris,  to  take  the  North  German  subjects  resid- 


UNITED  STATES  PROTECTS   GERMANS.       139 

ing  on  Frencli  territory  under  the  protection  of  this 
Legation.  To-day  I  am  in  receipt  of  a  telegram  from 
my  Government  authorizing  me  to  do  so,  provided 
that  it  be  done  with  the  assent  of  his  majesty's  Gov- 
ernment. I  have  the  honor  to  apply  for  this  assent. 
"I  have  the  honor,  etc., etc.,  etc., 

"WiCKHAM  Hoffman. 

"  His  Excellency  the  Duke  de  Gramont, 
Etc.,  etc.,  etc." 

The  Duke  de  Gramont  replied,  on  the  18th,  that 
the  French  Government  gave  its  "  entire  assent," 
whereupon  I  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Fish  as  follows : 

"  Fish  —  Washington  : — Consented  to  take  Korth 
Germans  under  protection  on  application  of  embas- 
sador, and  with  assent  of  France.  *  *  *  *  Wash- 
burne  returns  immediately.  Hoffmai^." 

I  learned  afterward  that  my  note  to  the  Duke  de 
Gramont  produced  quite  a  sensation  in  the  Emper- 
or's cabinet.  The  French  Government  had  already 
requested  the  good  offices  of  Great  Britain  to  protect 
French  subjects  in  ^N^orth  Germany,  and  it  had  fully 
expected  that  ]N"orth  Germany  would  make  a  similar 
request.  Speculation  was  therefore  rife  in  official 
circles  as  to  what   the   action   of  Count  Bismarck 


I40  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

meant.  It  was  supposed  tliat  he  anticipated  a  gen- 
eral European  war,  into  which  Great  Britain  would 
necessarily  be  drawn ;  and  preferred,  therefore,  to 
ask  the  good  offices  of  a  power  which  under  all  cir- 
cumstances was  likely  to  remain  neutral. 

The  Duke  de  Gramont  was  then  Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs,  and  was  supposed  to  have  had  much  to 
do  with  bringing  on  the  war.  The  story  was  cur- 
rent in  Paris  that,  when  he  was  embassador  at  Vi- 
enna, Bismarck  represented  Prussia.  They  quarrel- 
ed, and  Bismarck  remarked  of  him,  '^C^est  Vhomme 
le  plus  Ute  (TEuropeP  He  never  forgave  it.  At 
Vienna  he  naturally  associated  with  the  Viennese 
aristocracy,  who  disliked  the  Prussians.  Prom  them 
he  got  the  idea  that  Austria  would  readily  join 
France  in  a  war  against  Prussia,  and  so  reported  to 
the  Emperor.  He  took  no  note  of  the  all-powerful 
middle  class,  which  rules  in  constitutional  countries. 
This  class  would  not  hear  of  becoming  allies  of 
France  in  a  war  against  Germany. 

Late  in  the  evening  of  the  18th  of  July,  Mr.  Wash- 
burne  returned  to  Paris.  He  had  been  at  Carlsbad 
for  his  health,  but  on  learning  the  probability  of 
hostilities,  started  at  once  on  his  return  to  his  post. 
We  had  telegraphed  him,  but  he  never  received  the 


THE  EMPEROR   OPPOSED    TO   WAR.  141 

telegram.  Few  private  telegrams  were  forwarded  at 
all,  and  none  with  promptitude,  in  those  days. 

Paris  now  put  on  its  war-paint.  The  streets  were 
gay  with  the  jp(mtalon  rouge,  and  all  day  long  the 
French  drum  rat-a-tapped  in  the  streets.  The  Mo- 
biles began  to  arrive,  the  ]N'ational  Guard  to  jDarade 
— everywhere  was  heard  the  "Marseillaise."  The 
forbidden  air  was  delightful  to  Parisian  ears,  because 
it  was  forbidden.  Long  before  the  end  of  the  siege 
it  was  rarely  heard.  The  Parisians  could  chant  it  as 
they  pleased,  so  it  soon  lost  its  attractions. 

The  war  was  popular  in  Paris.  The  journals 
clamored  for  it,  and  the  violent  republican  papers, 
whatever  they  may  now  say  to  the  contrary,  w^ere 
among  the  most  blatant.  The  Emperor,  personally, 
was  opposed  to  war.  He  was  suffering  from  the 
acute  disease  which  afterward  killed  him,  and  was 
naturally  depressed  and  despondent.  He  would 
gladly  have  avoided  hostiHties,  but  he  was  pushed 
into  them.  They  persuaded  him,  too,  that  the  con- 
tinuance of  his  dynasty,  the  succession  of  his  son,  de- 
manded war ;  and  this  was  the  one  ruling  motive 
which  governed  both  his  conduct  and  that  of  the 
Empress.  The  Emperor  was  by  no  means  the  om- 
nipotent potentate  he  was  popularly  supposed  to  be. 


142  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

He  was  scarcely  a  free  agent.  It  was  liis  misfortune 
to  be  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  adventurers — French 
carpet-baggers.  The  best  men  of  France,  the  gentry 
of  the  country,  held  aloof.  The  Emperor  felt  this, 
and  often  tried  to  reconcile  them.  Had  he  reigned 
ten  years  longer,  I  think  that  he  would  have  suc- 
ceeded. There  were  signs  of  relenting.  He  was 
consequently  thrown,  for  his  high  officers  of  state, 
upon  a  class  of  clever  adventurers.  Look  at  his  last 
cabinet  before  the  Revolution  of  September.  One 
member  was  most  uncnviably  known  for  the  loot  of 
the  Summer  Palace  at  Pekin  ;  another  is  now  in  Ma- 
zas,  convicted  of  swindling;  and  a  third,  it  was  cur- 
rently reported  in  Paris,  received  one  hundred  thou- 
sand francs  in  the  Transcontinental,  Memphis,  and 
El  Paso  swindle  ;  and  I  have  heard  from  high  Prus- 
sian authority  that  when  the  gates  of  Paris  were 
opened  after  the  siege,  and  the  Germans  sold  flour 
and  cattle  and  sheep  to  meet  the  pressing  necessi- 
ties of  the  starving  Parisians,  of  a  flock  of  three 
thousand  sheep  not  one  was  permitted  to  enter  the 
city  till  this  gentleman  had  received  two  francs  a 
head. 

I  have  said  that  the  Emperor  was  scarcely  a  free 
agent.     Here  is  an  anecdote  in  point.     Prince  Met- 


MARSHAL   LEBCEUF.  143 

teriiicli,  the  Austrian  Embassador,  returning  from 
Vienna,  called  to  pay  liis  respects  at  the  palace.  The 
Emperor  asked  him  what  military  news  there  was 
in  Austria.  He  replied  that  they  were  arming  with 
the  Kemington  breech-loader.  "The  Kemington," 
said  the  Emperor,  "  what  is  that  %  I  thought  I  knew 
all  the  principal  breech-loaders,  but  I  never  heard  of 
that."  Metternich  explained.  "Where  is  Reming- 
ton ?"  said  the  Emperor.  The  Prince  replied  that  he 
happened  to  be  in  Paris.  "I  wish  you  would  bring 
him  to  me,  and  do  you  bring  him  yourself ;  this  will 
insure  my  seeing  him."  Metternich  brought  him. 
The  Emperor  examined  his  piece,  and  was  much 
pleased  with  it.  He  wrote  a  note  with  his  own  hand 
to  the  Minister  of  War,  Le  Boeuf,  and  told  Reming- 
ton to  take  it^t  once :  of  course  he  was  received  with- 
out delay.  "  So,  my  good  friend,  you  have  seen  the 
Emperor,  have  you  V  "  Yes,  sir,  I  had  the  honor  to 
see  his  Majesty."  "  Well,  you  won^t  see  him  again  :" 
and  he  did  not.  This  was  the  way  the  Emperor  was 
served.  Le  Boeuf  was  the  capable  and  well-inform- 
ed Minister  of  War  who  stated  in  the  Assembly  that 
France  was  thoroughly  prepared  for  the  field — "  not 
a  button  on  a  gaiter  was  wanting."  When  the  sad 
truth  became  known,  the  French  wits  said  that  his 


144  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

statement  was  literally  correct,  for  there  was  not  a 
gaiter  in  store. 

But  while  the  war  was  popular  in  Paris,  it  was  not 
so  in  the  provinces.  After  the  Kevolution  broke  out, 
the  Provisional  Government  found  in  the  Tuileries 
a  number  of  important  historical  documents,  and 
among  them  reports  from  the  prefects  of  the  dif- 
ferent departments  on  this  subject.  They  breathed 
one  tone.  The  people  wanted  peace;  but  if  they 
were  attacked,  if  the  honor  of  France  were  at  stake, 
they  were  ready  to  fight.  Considering  the  source 
whence  this  information  came,  from  imperial  pre- 
fects, creatures  of  the  Government,  there  was  no 
mistaking  the  pacific  feeling  of  the  country. 


LABORS  OF  THE  LEGATION.  145 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Germans  forbidden  to  leave  Paris. — Afterward  expelled. —  Large 
Number  in  Paris. — Americans  in  Europe. — Emperor's  Staff  an  In- 
cumbrance.— French  Generals. — Their  Rivalries. — False  News  from 
the  Front. — Effect  in  Paris. — Reaction. — Expulsion  of  Germans. — 
Sad  Scenes. — Washburne's  Action. — Diplomatic  Ser\ice. — Battle  of 
Sedan. — Sheridan  at  Sedan. 

And  now  began  our  labors  at  the  Legation,  increas- 
ing from  day  to  day,  until  we  had  thirteen  distinct 
nationalities  under  our  charge,  European  and  South 
American.  I^or  was  this  all.  The  citizens  of  other 
countries — countries  which  had  not  formally  asked 
our  protection — came  to  us  for  assistance.  This  was 
particularly  the  case  with  Mexico  and  Roumania. 
There  was  a  large  colony  of  Mexicans  in  Paris,  and 
Mexico  had  no  representative  in  France.  The  diplo- 
matic relations  which  were  suspended  by  the  Mexi- 
can war  are  still  unrenewed,  notwithstanding  the 
friendly  efforts  of  our  Government.  As  regards 
Roumania,  its  position  is  peculiar,  l^ominally  it  is 
under  the  suzerainty  of  Turkey,  and  the  Turk  claims 
to  represent  it  abroad.     But  Roumania  does  not  ac- 

7 


146  CAJ/r,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

quiesce  in  this  claim,  and  appoints  its  own  agents, 
who  are  quasi -recognized  by  the  powers  to  whom 
they  are  accredited.  There  was  a  large  nmnber  of 
Roumanian  students  in  Paris  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  These  young  men  were  left  quite  destitute 
during  the  siege.  The  French  Government  behaved 
very  generously  by  them.  At  Mr.  Washburne's  sug- 
gestion, it  made  them  a  monthly  allowance,  sufficient 
for  their  support. 

The  French  Government  had  at  first  decided  that 
no  German  should  leave  France  to  return  home. 
The  reason  given  for  this  harsh  measure  was  that 
every  German  was  a  soldier,  and  would  go  to  swell 
the  enemy's  ranks.  It  was  very  hard  on  the  Ger- 
mans in  France.  They  were  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment, insulted,  liable  to  violence,  and  sometimes  as- 
saulted, and,  in  addition  to  all  this,  were  treated  as 
insoumis  at  home,  and  subject  to  severe  punishment 
for  neglect  of  military  duty.  Mr.  Washburne  re- 
monstrated against  this  measure,  and  wrote  an  able 
dispatch  to  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  claiming  the  right 
of  the  Germans,  under  all  recognized  international 
law,  to  leave  France  if  they  wished  to  do  so.  It  was 
in  vain.  But  now  came  a  change  of  ministry.  The 
Prince  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne  became  Minister  of 


GERMANS  EXPELLED.  147 

Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  Government  took  precisely 
the  opposite  course,  and  decided  to  expel  the  Ger- 
mans. Again  Mr.  Washburne  intervened,  claiming 
that  this  was  as  much  a  violation  of  international  law 
as  the  other  course.  All  he  could  obtain  was,  that 
the  decree  should  be  executed  with  leniency,  and 
that  liberal  exceptions  should  be  made  in  individ- 
ual cases  of  special  hardship.  But  the  French  press 
called  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Germans,  and  the 
Corps  Legislatif  passed  a  resolution  that  they  should 
be  expelled  en  masse. 

As  soon  as  the  decree  was  j>ublished  in  the  Jour- 
nal Officiel,  and  placarded  on  the  walls  of  Paris,  they 
came  in  shoals  to  the  Legation.  From  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning  till  ^yq  in  the  afternoon,  when  we 
closed  the  office,  they  fairly  besieged  us.  Five  hun- 
dred often  collected  in  the  street  at  once.  We  were 
compelled,  though  reluctantly,  to  ask  for  the  aid  of 
the  police,  both  as  a  protection  to  the  Germans 
themselves  against  the  mob,  and  for  our  own  con- 
venience. We  had  six  gendarmes  constantly  on 
duty.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  get  up  our  own 
stairs,  and  Americans  who  had  business  at  the  Lega- 
tion complained  of  the  impossibility  of  getting  in. 
I  found  a  side-entrance  through  a  neighbor's  apart- 


148  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

ment,  of  wliicli  I  revealed  the  secret  to  some  of  my 
countrymen. 

The  French  Government  required  that  every  Ger- 
man leaving  Paris  should  be  furnished  with  a  pass 
from  us.  At  Mr.  Washburne's  request  they  dis- 
pensed with  the  police  msa^  and  so  simplified  mat- 
ters. But  there  were  forty  thousand  Germans  in 
Paris ;  of  these  about  thirty  thousand  went  away. 
Allowing  three  persons  to  each  pass,  for  many  had 
families,  we  issued  about  three  thousand  passes  in  six 
weeks.  Many  needed  assistance  to  enable  them  to 
leave  Paris.  The  Prussian  Government,  with  great 
liberality,  put  fifty  thousand  thalers  (thirty  -  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars)  at  our  disposition, 
and  this  sum  they  afterward  increased.  "We  gave 
those  who  needed  them  railroad  tickets  to  the  fron- 
tier of  Germany  and  Belgium;  there  the  German 
Government  took  charge  of  them,  or  rather  a  chari- 
table organization  under  the  presidency  of  the  Em- 
press Augusta,  who  showed  the  most  unwearying  de- 
votion in  good  works  during  the  whole  war.  Eight 
or  ten  thousand  remained  in  Paris  during  the  siege. 
Of  those  at  least  one-third  came  upon  the  Legation 
for  support,  unwillingly  in  most  cases,  and  driven  by 
necessity. 


THE  EMPEROR'S  STAFF.  149 


But  while  the  Germans  thus  thronged  our  office, 
our  own  countrymen  were  not  wanting.  In  six 
weeks  we  issued  eleven  hundred  passports.  Allow- 
ing an  average  of  three  persons  to  a  passport,  thirty- 
three  hundred  Americans  passed  through  Paris  in 
those  six  weeks.  To  these  may  be  added  another 
thousand  who  had  passports  from  the  State  Depart- 
ment. Tlie  question  has  often  been  asked  me,  How 
many  Americans  do  you  suppose  are  in  Europe  ?  If 
to  the  above  forty-three  hundred  we  add  seventeen 
hundred  for  those  who  remained  quietly  where  the 
war  found  them,  or  procured  their  passports  at  other 
legations,  we  have  six  thousand  souls.  At  that  time 
this  was  the  average  number  of  our  -people  tempora- 
rily in  Europe.     There  are  fewer  now. 

On  the  28th  of  July  the  Emperor  started  for  the 
seat  of  war.  He  took  with  him  his  Centgardes  and 
a  numerous  staff.  Nothing  can  be  worse  for  an 
army  than  to  be  encumbered  with  a  large  head-quar- 
ters staff.  It  involves  an  immense  amount  of  trans- 
portation, blocking  up  the  roads,  and  interfering 
with  the  march  of  the  troops.  Every  thing  must 
give  way  to  head  -  quarters  trains,  even  supplies  for 
the  soldiers  and  ammunition  for  the  guns.  This 
naturally  breeds  discontent,  and  interferes  with  the 


150  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

efficiency  of  tlie  army.  A  staff  should  consist  of  the 
fewest  possible  number  of  working  men,  and  they 
should  be  restricted,  like  the  line,  to  a  limited  amount 
of  baggage.  Sherman  gave  an  example  of  what  a 
staff  should  be  in  this  respect,  on  his  famous  march 
to  the  sea. 

Meantime  rumors  of  disaster  came  thick  and  fast 
from  the  front.  The  French  had  fought  the  battle 
of  Wissembourg  with  great  gallantry,  but  they  were 
outnumbered  and  outgeneraled.  Indeed,  it  was  their 
misfortune  in  this  war  to  have  no  great  generals.  I 
was  reminded  of  our  own  experience  when  our  war 
broke  out,  and  when  we  appointed  to  high  command 
men  who  had  "  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  a  dispo- 
sition to  storm  works,"  which  Mr.  Stanton  then  de- 
clared to  be  all  that  was  necessary.  He  lived  to 
change  his  mind,  and  to  become  one  of  the  strongest 
advocates  of  trained  military  talent.  Happily  for  us, 
the  war  lasted  long  enough  to  enable  us  to  sift  the 
wheat  from  the  chaff.  Its  close  found  in  high  com- 
mand the  very  men  best  fitted  to  be  there.  The 
good  sense  of  our  rulers  and  the  tenacity  of  our  peo- 
ple had  enabled  us  to  effect  this  vital  change.  The 
French  were  not  so  fortunate.  Their  generals  in 
high  command  when  the  war  broke  out  were  not 


BITTER  RIVALRIES.  151 

equal  to  the  situation,  and  their  armies  were  defeated 
and  overwhehned  before  the  officers  of  ability,  who 
w^ere  undoubtedly  to  be  found  among  them,  but  in 
inferior  positions,  had  had  the  opportunity  to  show 
what  was  in  them.  For  the  system  of  advancement 
under  the  Empire  was  not  calculated  to  bring  the 
best  men  to  the  front.  I  was  told  during  the  siege 
by  General  Berthaut,  now  Minister  of  War,  that  an 
officer  who  studied  w^as  looked  upon  as  a  republican, 
and  passed  over.  The  road  to  promotion  lay  through 
the  cafe. 

There  were  bitter  rivalries,  too,  between  the  corps 
commanders.  It  was  stated,  I  do  not  know  with 
what  truth,  that  repeated  messages  failed  to  bring 
up  the  supporting  corjDS  to  MacMahon's  assistance. 
The  same  thing  had  happened  at  Solferino,  where, 
as  it  was  alleged,  the  battle  was  nearly  lost,  because 
Canrobert  would  not  support  I^iel.  A  challenge 
passed  between  them,  and  nothing  but  the  imper- 
ative intervention  of  the  Emperor  prevented  the 
scandal  of  a  duel. 

The  defeat  at  Wissembourg  was  not  published  in 
Paris  till  several  hours  after  it  had  appeared  in  the 
London  morning  papers.  The  press  was  muzzled. 
The  depression  produced  was  very  great.     Certain 


152  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

Bourse  operators  took  advantage  of  the  inflamma- 
ble state  of  public  opinion.  One  day  a  man  in  the 
uniform  of  a  Government  courier  rode  up  to  the 
Bourse,  and,  calling  out  his  confederate,  delivered  a 
dispatch  purporting  to  come  from  the  front :  "  Great 
victory ;  total  defeat  of  the  Prussians ;  capture  of  the 
Crown  Prince ;  French  army  in  full  march  for  Ber- 
lin!" Up  went  stocks.  The  crowd  shouted,  sung, 
wept  for  joy,  threw  themselves  into  each  other's 
arms,  embraced,  and  kissed.  Popular  actors  and 
singers  were  recognized  as  they  drove  through  the 
streets,  stopped,  and  compelled  to  sing  or  recite  the 
"  Marseillaise."  Paris  was  drunk  with  joy.  Then 
came  the  reaction.  The  truth  was  soon  known.  As 
they  had  been  extreme  in  their  joy,  they  were  now 
extreme  in  their  grief.  They  were  not  only  despond- 
ent, they  were  in  despair.  As  the  poor  Empress  said 
at  the  time  to  Mr.  Washburne,  "  They  have  no  for-ti- 
tude."  The  crowd  collected  in  the  streets,  inveighed 
against  the  Government,  and,  in  a  pouring  rain, 
marched  to  Ollivier's  residence,  in  the  Place  Yen- 
dome,  and  insisted  upon  his  addressing  them.  Olli- 
vier  was  then  the  head  of  the  Government.  He  had 
not  much  to  say,  but  he  was  an  eloquent  speaker, 
and  partially  pacified  them. 


EXPULSION  OF  GERMANS.  153 

But  the  defeats  of  the  French  and  their  conse- 
quent exasperation  reacted  upon  the  Germans  under 
our  protection.  Employers  discharged  their  work- 
men ;  those  who  would  gladly  have  kept  them  dared 
not.  They  lived  in  constant  dread,  and  the  num- 
ber of  those  thronging  to  the  Legation  to  obtain  the 
means  of  departure  increased  daily.  The  suffering, 
both  moral  and  physical,  was  very  great.  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  many  of  these  people  had 
been  settled  for  years  in  Paris ;  that  they  had  mar- 
ried there;  their  children  had  been  born  and  had 
married  there ;  their  property  and  their  business  in- 
terests all  lay  there.  Yet  they  were  pitilessly  ex- 
pelled, and  not  only  their  business  interests  ruined, 
but  the  dearest  family  ties  dissevered.  We  have 
heard  much  in  history  and  romance  of  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Moors  from  Spain,  and  of  the  Huguenots 
from  France,  and  our  sympathies  are  deeply  stirred 
as  we  read  of  the  misery  endured  by  those  poor  ex- 
iles. I  do  not  see  why  the  expulsion  of  the  Ger- 
mans does  not  rank  with  these  touching  episodes, 
both  in  the  suffering  of  the  victims  and  the  pathos 
of  their  departure. 

Of  course  the  French  Government  did  not  expel 
these  poor  people  with  the  cmur  Uger.     They  had 

7* 


154  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

their  reasons.  They  said  that  in  case  of  siege  there 
would  be  additional  mouths  to  feed,  and  that  it 
would  be  a  constant  source  of  danger  to  have  so 
many  Germans  residing  in  their  midst.  But  at  that 
time  a  siege  was  not  anticipated ;  and,  except  in 
this  case,  there  surely  could  have  been  no  danger  in 
their  stay. 

There  were  touching  scenes  at  the  Legation  among 
the  weeping  crowd  of  women.  Some  left  children 
and  grandchildren  married  to  Frenchmen.  Some 
were  not  in  a  fit  condition  to  travel,  but  required  the 
comforts  of  a  home,  and  tender  care.  A  child  was 
born  upon  a  bench  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  Le- 
gation. (It  was  suggested  to  name  it  after  a  distin- 
guished American  diplomate.)  Every  thing  that  en- 
ergy and  kindness  of  heart  could  do  to  facilitate  the 
departure  of  those  poor  people,  and  to  mitigate  its 
severity,  was  done  by  our  minister. 

And  here  let  me  remark  that  no  one  could  have 
been  better  fitted  for  the  difiicult  task  he  was  sud- 
denly called  upon  to  undertake  than  Mr.  Washburne. 
He  trusted  to  the  dictates  of  a  sound  judgment,  a 
kind  heart,  and  a  fearless  temperament ;  and  these 
are  pretty  safe  guides  in  the  long  run.  Had  he 
been  brought  up  in  diplomacy,  he  would  have  hesi- 


DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE.  155 

tated  and  read  up  for  precedents  which  did  not  ex- 
ist, and  so  let  the  propitious  moment  pass.  The  re- 
sult of  my  observation  in  Europe  during  ten  years 
of  pretty  active  service  is  this:  that  while  there 
should  be  a  permanent  officer  in  every  embassy — a 
chancellier,  as  he  is  called  in  Paris  —  who  can  turn 
promptly  to  any  page  of  the  archives,  and  is  posted 
in  the  history  of  the  relations  of  the  country  in 
which  he  resides  with  his  own ;  who  knows  the 
court  ceremonial,  and  is  intimate  with  the  court  offi- 
cials ;  in  short,  "  who  knows  the  ropes  " — it  is  quite 
as  well  that  the  head  of  the  embassy  should  be  a  new 
man.  He  will  attach  much  less  importance  to  trifles, 
and  act  more  fearlessly  in  emergencies.  Great  Brit- 
ain and  France  have  pursued  this  plan  in  several 
instances  lately.  The  old  diplomates  grumble,  but 
it  is  clearly  for  the  advantage  of  the  country. 

ISTews  of  reverses  now  poured  in  upon  us,  until 
they  culminated  in  the  great  disaster  of  Sedan. 
That  this  should  have  been  so  great  a  calamity — 
a  capitulation  instead  of  a  defeat— appears  to  have 
been  the  fault  of  MacMahon.  He  was  compelled  by 
imperative  orders  from  Paris,  and  entirely  against 
his  own  judgment,  to  go  to  the  relief  of  Bazaine, 
and  to  fight  against  overwhelming  odds.     But  for 


156  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

the  tactical  disposition  of  his  forces,  by  which  they 
were  penned  up  in  a  cul-de-sac  from  which  they  had 
no  line  of  retreat,  he,  as  commander-in-chief,  is  ap- 
parently responsible.  But  the  French  armies  seem 
from  the  beginning  to  have  been  badly  organized, 
badly  led,  and  conscious  that  they  were  so,  and  dis- 
couraged accordingly.  I  have  General  Sheridan's  au- 
thority for  saying  that  the  position  of  the  French  at 
Sedan  was  a  very  strong  one ;  and  while  it  was  inev- 
itable that  they  should  be  defeated  by  superior  num- 
bers, they  ought  to  have  held  their  ground  for  three 
days.  I  have  no  doubt  that  our  troops  under  Sheri- 
dan would  have  done  so.  He  spoke  in  the  highest 
terms  of  the  gallantry  of  the  French  cavalry,  which 
was  sacrificed  to  encourage  the  infantry.  The  re- 
mark of  a  distinguished  French  general  upon  the 
Cliarge  of  the  Six  Hundred,  "  C^est  magnifique,  mais 
ce  n^ est  pas  la  guerre^''  would  have  applied  equally 
well  to  the  charge  of  the  cuirassiers  at  Sedan. 

Slieridan  accompanied  the  King's  head  -  quarters. 
We  had  asked  ofl^icially,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  accompany  the 
French  army,  and  been  refused.  Tlie  Emperor  sub- 
sequently told  Dr.  Evans  that  lie  had  never  lieard 
of  the  application.     General  orders  had  been  issued 


GENERAL  SHERIDAN.  157 

that  no  foreign  officer  should  go  with  the  army ;  but 
there  was  surely  some  difference  between  the  appli- 
cation of  an  officer  for  this  permission  on  his  own 
account,  and  the  request  of  a  friendly  Government 
that  the  Lieutenant-General  of  its  armies  might  be 
permitted  to  accompany  the  Emperor.  The  appli- 
cation probably  never  got  beyond  the  chef  du  cabi- 
net of  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  Nowhere  in 
the  world  is  bureaucracy  carried  to  the  extent  it  is 
in  France.  A  minister  can  scarcely  appoint  a  clerk 
in  his  office.  The  chef  du  'bureau  is  omnipotent  in 
his  own  department.  The  Republic  promised  to 
change  all  this;  but  its  ministers,  after  a  gallant 
effort,  have  fallen  in  the  struggle,  and  things  move 
on  in  the  same  old  groove. 

At  the  battle  of  Sedan,  Sheridan  stood  near  Count 
Bismarck.  Toward  its  close  he  shut  up  his  glass, 
and,  turning  to  Bismarck,  said,  "  The  battle  is  won." 
The  Count  replied  that  he  should  be  glad  to  think 
so,  but  saw  no  signs  of  it  yet.  In  a  minute  or  two 
more  the  French  gave  way.  Turning  his  glass  to- 
ward Sedan,  Sheridan  observed,  "The  Emperor  is 
there."  Bismarck  answered  that  it  could  not  be; 
that  the  Emperor  was  not  such  a  fool  as  to  place 
himself  in  that  situation.     Looking  again,  Sheridan 


158  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

said,  ''  He  is  there,  anyliov>\''  He  had  drawn  his 
conclusions  from  tlie  immense  staff  he  saw,  and  the 
confusion  reigning  among  them. 

Sheridan  was  right.  The  Emperor  and  his  staff 
were  prisoners  of  war.  The  Emperor  had  behaved 
with  the  greatest  personal  courage,  and  subsequently, 
when  dissensions  arose  between  the  French  generals 
as  to  who  was  responsible  for  the  great  disaster,  he 
behaved  with  the  greatest  generosity.  But  he  should 
not  have  been  at  Sedan.  The  post  of  usefulness  and 
of  danger  for  him  was  at  Paris,  and  not  with  the 
army. 


SEPTEMBER  4.  159 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 

Revolution  of  September  4th,  ISYO.— Paris  en  i'e^e.— Flight  of  the 
Empress. — Saved  by  Foreigners. — Escapes  in  an  English  Yacht. — 
Government  of  National  Defense.  —  Trochu  at  its  Head,  —  Jules 
Simon.  —  United  States  recognizes  Republic.  —  Washburne's  Ad- 
dress.— Favre's  Answer. — Efforts  for  Peace. — John  L.  O'SuUivan. 

On  Sunday,  the  4tli  of  September,  1870,  Paris  was 
en  fete.  The  Parisians  had  a  new  revolution,  and 
were  delighted  with  it.  The  whole  population  had 
turned  out,  men,  women,  and  children,  in  their  holi- 
day clothes.  They  filled  the  beautiful  Place  de  la 
Concorde,  the  finest  in  the  world ;  they  swarmed 
across  the  bridge  and  into  the  Palais  Bourbon,  where 
the  Corps  Legislatif  was  in  session.  The  soldiers 
who  guarded  the  imperial  legislators  melted  away, 
the  cocked  hats  of  the  truculent  gendarmes  vanished 
miraculously.  The  Conscript  Fathers  did  not  exact- 
ly imitate  the  Eoman  Senators  when  they  too  were 
invaded  by  the  Gauls,  but  disappeared  as  quickly 
as  the  gendarmes.  These  were  the  gentlemen  who 
had  howled  for  war,  and  called  Mr.  Thiers  traitor 
when  he  pleaded  for  peace.     The  people  were  gay, 


l6o  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

good-liumored,  liappy  ;  in  short,  it  was  a  Sunday  fete, 
and  in  half  an  hour  Paris,  and  consequently  France, 
was  a  republic. 

From  the  Palais  Bourbon  the  crowd  went  to  the 
Tuileries,  where  the  Empress  was  awaiting  the  prog- 
ress of  events.  There  was  no  anger  then  felt  to- 
ward her,  and  she  was  not  in  danger;  but  a  mob, 
and  especially  a  French  mob,  is  a  capricious  creature. 
It  may  be  in  the  gayest  of  humors ;  a  trifle  turns  its 
mood,  and  it  becomes  blood-thirsty  as  a  tiger.  The 
Empress  sent  for  Trochu,  the  Governor  of  Paris, 
lie  had  sworn  on  his  faith  as  a  soldier,  a  Catholic, 
and  a  Breton,  to  stand  by  her  to  the  end.  He  kept 
his  word  by  sending  an  aid-de-camp  to  her  assist- 
ance. Of  all  the  creatures  of  the  court  whom  the 
favor  of  the  Emperor  had  raised  from  obscurity,  not 
one  came  near  her.  Jerome  Bonaparte — the  Ameri- 
can Bonaparte — had  been  Governor  of  the  Palace. 
Fortunately  he  had  been  appointed  to  the  command 
of  a  regiment  of  cavalry ;  for  had  he  still  been  Gov- 
ernor there  would  probably  have  been  a  fight,  and 
it  was  as  well  that  there  should  be  no  bloodshed. 
Happily  for  the  Empress,  two  foreigners  remember- 
ed her.  The  Embassador  of  Austria  and  the  Minis- 
ter of  Italy  went  to  her  aid.     They  found  every  sign 


FLIGHT  OF  THE  EMPRESS.  l6i 

of  demoralization  at  tlie  palace,  the  servants  desert- 
ing, and  pilfering  as  tliey  went.  They  persuaded 
her,  much  against  her  will,  to  fly.  They  traversed  the 
whole  length  of  the  Louvi-e  to  the  door  in  the  rear. 
Metternich  opened  the  door,  but,  seeing  the  crowd, 
closed  it  again.  "(7^  rCest  que  Vaudace  qui  sauve^"^ 
said  the  Empress,  and  ordered  it  opened.  They 
passed  into  the  crowd.  A  gamin  recognized  her, 
and  cried,  '^ L^ Im/peratrice !  Vlmperatrice P"^  "I'll 
teach  you  to  cry  '  Vive  la  Prusse  P  "  said  Nigra,  and 
pinched  his  ear  till  he  howled.  Metternich  went  for 
his  carriage.  While  he  was  gone,  a  fiacTe  passed, 
Nigra  hailed  it,  and  the  Empress  and  Madame  Le 
Breton  entered.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should 
meet  at  the  house  of  a  noted  Bonapartist.  She 
went  there,  and  was  refused  admission.  She  went 
to  another;  he  was  out  of  town.  In  this  emergen- 
cy she  thought  of  Dr.  Evans,  her  American  dentist, 
and  drove  to  his  residence.  He  was  expecting  two 
American  ladies  on  a  visit  to  his  family,  and  every 
thing  was  prepared  for  them.  When  the  servant 
announced  two  ladies,  the  doctor  was  at  dinner. 
Excusing  himself  to  his  guests,  he  went  out  to  re- 
ceive them,  and  found  the  Empress.  The  next  day 
he  took  her  and  Madame  Le  Breton  in  his  carriage 


i62  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

to  Trouville,  on  the  coast,  near  Havre.  There  was  a 
sort  of  guard  kept  at  the  gates  of  Paris,  though  not 
a  very  strict  one.  The  doctor  said,  "  You  know  me. 
Dr.  Evans.  I  am  taking  this  poor  lady  to  the  asylum 
here  at  Neuilly."  They  passed,  and  arrived  safely  at 
Trouville,  where  the  doctor's  family  were  spending 
the  summer. 

In  the  mean  time  a  little  English  yacht  of  fifty 
tons  was  lying  in  dock  at  Trouville.  Her  owner.  Sir 
John  Burgoyne,  great-nephew  of  General  Burgoyne, 
who  commanded  the  British  troops  at  Saratoga,  had 
intended  to  sail  that  day  for  England ;  but  at  the 
suggestion  of  an  American  lady,  a  friend  of  his 
wife's,  had  decided  to  remain  another  day,  and  make 
an  excursion  to  the  ruins  of  the  castle  of  William 
the  Conqueror.  In  the  evening  Dr.  Evans  went  on 
board,  and  stated  who  he  was,  and  what  he  had  come 
for.  As  soon  as  he  was  satisfied  that  the  Empress 
was  really  at  Trouville,  Sir  John  said  that  he 
would  gladly  take  her  across  the  Channel,  and  it  was 
agreed  that  she  should  come  on  board  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  the  tide  served.  That  evening  the  gen- 
darmes visited  the  yacht,  for  it  was  rumored  that  the 
Empress  was  at  Trouville.  In  the  morning  she  came 
on  board,  and  the  yacht  sailed.    The  voyage  was  very 


GENERAL    TROCHU.  163 

rough,  and  the  little  vessel  was  obliged  to  lie  to. 
She  arrived  safely  at  Ryde,  however,  and  the  Em- 
press proceeded  at  once  to  Hastings,  where  she  met 
her  sou.  Thus  she  had  escaped  by  the  aid  exclu- 
sively of  foreigners — an  Austrian  and  an  Italian,  an 
American  and  an  Englishman. 

The  new  Government,  the  "  National  Defense  " 
they  called  it  —  the  French  attach  great  impor- 
tance to  names — was  duly  inaugurated  at  the  Ho- 
tel de  Yille.  Had  it  not  been  inaugurated  there,  and 
proclaimed  from  the  historic  window,  the  Parisians 
would  scarcely  have  looked  upon  it  as  a  legitimate 
Government.  General  Trochu  was  placed  at  its 
head,  and  Jules  Favre  made  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs.  The  appointment  of  Trochu  was  unfortu- 
nate. He  was  an  honorable  man,  intelligent,  a  stu- 
dent, and  a  good  military  critic,  but  utterly  valueless 
in  active  service.  He  coddled  the  mob,  treating 
them  as  if  they  were  the  purest  of  patriots ;  whereas 
they  were  the  marplots  of  the  Defense.  He  was  se- 
lected probably  because  he  was  the  only  Republican 
among  the  French  generals  of  prominence,  and  not 
for  any  peculiar  fitness  for  command  in  those  troub- 
lous times. 

Shortly  after  the  inauguration  of  the  Government 


164  CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 

of  the  IS'ational  Defense,  Mr.  Wasliburne  had  occa- 
sion to  go  to  the  Hotel  de  Yille.  Jules  Simon,  now 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  seized  the  opportunity  to 
make  us  an  oration.  What  particular  object  he  had 
in  view,  unless  it  were  to  convince  the  Minister  of 
the  United  States  that  Jules  Simon  was  a  great  ora- 
tor, I  have  been  unable  to  discover.  If  tliat  was  his 
object,  he  succeeded.  Whether  it  was  worth  while 
to  occupy  his  and  our  valuable  time  for  this  pur- 
pose only,  may  be  doubted. 

On  the  7th  of  September  came  our  instructions  to 
recognize  the  Republic  if  it  seemed  to  us  to  be  firm- 
ly established.  Mr.  Washburue  sent  me  to  make 
an  appointment  with  Jules  Favre.  It  was  made  for 
that  afternoon.  While  Washburne  prepared  his  ad- 
dress, I  read  up  in  the  archives  of  the  Legation  to 
learn  what  was  done  under  similar  circumstances  in 
1848.  I  found  that  we  had  been  the  first  to  recog- 
nize the  Eepublic  at  that  date,  but  that  Lamartine, 
in  his  report,  had  taken  no  notice  of  the  fact,  for 
fear,  it  was  said,  of  wounding  the  susceptibilities  of 
Great  Britain.  Washburne  told  me  to  mention  this 
circumstance  to  Favre:  he  did  not  intend  that  we 
should  be  ignored  a  second  time,  if  he  could  pre- 
vent it.     I  mentioned  it  to  Favre,  and  he  replied, 


THE  REPUBLIC  RECOGNIZED.  165 

substantially,  that  Great  Britain  had  not  treated 
France  so  well  that  they  need  have  any  particular 
anxiety  about  wounding  her  susceptibilities;  and 
added  that  Great  Britain  was  now  of  very  little 
consequence. 

Mr.  Washburne's  address  was  an  admirable  docu- 
ment. Favre  replied  to  it  very  happily.  He  said 
that  the  recognition  of  the  "young  Eepublic"  by 
the  United  States  was  a  "  grand  ajppui  ;'^  that  he 
"felt  gratitude  and  profound  emotion."  Jules  Fa- 
vre is  a  master  of  the  French  language.  It  is  a 
great  treat  to  hear  him,  even  in  ordinary  conversa- 
tion, roll  out  in  a  charming  voice  and  impressive 
manner  the  most  perfectly  harmonious  words  of 
that  beautiful  language.  French  does  not  rise  to 
the  sublimity  of  poetry.  Shakspeare  is  absurd  in 
French.  But  for  charm  in  conversation,  and  pre- 
cision in  science,  it  is  simply  perfect. 

The  next  day  the  interview  was  reported  in  full 
in  the  Officiel.  Washburne's  address  was  very  well 
translated,  except  where  he  quoted  from  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  and  spoke  of  the  right  of  ev- 
ery man  to  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness." Here  the  translator  had  made  him  say  that 
every  man  had  a  right  ^'de  vivre  en  travaillcmt  au 


1 66  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

hoiiheur  de  tous.^^  Katlier  a  liberal  translation,  and 
thoroughly  French  both  in  language  and  sentiment. 
Bat  I  have  not  remarked  that  the  French  Republic- 
ans labor  more  for  the  happiness  of  their  neigh- 
bors than  other  nationalities,  or  than  their  own  coun- 
trymen. If  there  be  a  political  party  in  France 
which  does  more  in  charities  than  another,  it  is  the 
Orleanist. 

Favre  was  very  anxious  that  Mr.  Washburne 
should  intervene  to  make  peace.  When  he  found 
that  under  our  instructions  we  could  not  join  with 
other  European  powers  in  political  matters  purely 
European  (advice  left  us  by  Washington,  and  wisely 
followed  by  Mr.  Fish),  he  begged  Mr.  Washburne  to 
intervene  in  his  private  capacity.  But  he  replied 
very  sensibly  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  sepa- 
rate his  private  from  his  public  capacity;  he  must 
always  be  the  Minister  of  the  United  States. 

But  what  Washburne  felt  compelled  to  decline, 
another  American  gentleman,  Mr.  O'Sullivan,  for- 
merly our  Minister  at  Lisbon,  undertook.  He  asked 
Mr.  Washburne  for  a  letter  to  Bismarck,  but  this  he 
did  not  feel  authorized  to  give.  He  then  begged  for 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  Sheridan,  who  was  at  the 
King's  head-quarters.     This  he  received.     Jules  Fa- 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE.  167 


vre,  who  clutched  eagerly  at  any  thing  that  might 
possibly  lead  to  peace,  gave  him  a  safe-conduct,  and 
he  started  for  the  Prussian  lines.     But  he  never  got 
to  head-quarters.      That  long-headed  Bismarck  had 
anticipated  some  such  outside  benevolent  efforts,  and 
had  given  orders  to  the  outlying  corps  that  if  any 
distinguished  gentlemen  came  along  desiring  to  make 
peace,  they  should  be  treated  with  all  possible  court- 
esy, but  not  allowed  to  approach  head-quarters  with- 
out permission  of  the  King.     O'Sullivan  was  stop- 
ped, and  his  letter  forwarded   to   Sheridan.      Bis- 
marck sent  for  the  General,  and  asked  if  he  knew 
O'Sullivan.     He  said  he  did  not.     He  then  asked  if 
he  was  anxious  to  see  him.     Sheridan  replied  that 
he  should  be  happy  to  make  his  acquaintance,  but 
that  he  saw  no  pressing  haste  in  the  matter.     ''  Then 
he  sha'n't  come,"  said  Bismarck  ;  and  O'Sullivan  re- 
turned to  Paris.     But  the  French  did  not  treat  him 
so  well  as  the  Germans.     As  he  approached  Paris, 
walking  quietly  along  the  high-road,  a  carpet-bag  in 
one  hand  and  an  umbrella  in  the  other,  a  detachment 
of  the  vigilant  :N"ational  Guard  rushed  across  a  field 
and  covered  him  with  their  loaded  pieces.     As  he 
made  no  resistance,  they  simply  took  from  him  his 
bag  and  umbrella,  and  led  him  before  their   com- 


1 68  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

inander  blindfolded.  That  officer  seut  him  under 
guard  to  one  of  those  wretched  dens  scooped  out  of 
the  barrier  where  they  sometimes  confined  smug- 
glers temporarily,  but  which  were  oftener  used  for 
more  unsavory  purposes.  There  they  kept  him  all 
night.  In  the  morning  Jules  Favre  sent  to  his  as- 
sistance, and  he  was  released. 

O' Sullivan  afterward  left  Paris  in  the  general  ex- 
odus of  Americans.  He  went,  as  they  did,  to  Yer- 
saiUes;  but  he  staid  there  some  three  weeks,  talk- 
ing peace  to  the  German  princes  quartered  at  the  Ho- 
tel des  Eeservoirs,  some  of  whom  he  had  previously 
known.  He  had  a  plan,  not  at  all  a  bad  one  in  it- 
self, but  under  the  circumstances  entirely  impracti- 
cable. It  was  to  neutralize  a  strip  of  territory  lying 
between  France  and  Germany,  annex  part  of  it  to 
Belgium,  and  part  to  Switzerland,  and  put  it  under 
the  protection  of  the  Great  Powers.  One  evening 
O'Sullivan  dined  with  the  Crown  Prince.  He  sat 
next  to  Bismarck,  and  discoursed  upon  his  pet  neu- 
tral-strip theory.  As  they  parted,  Bismarck  shook 
his  hand,  and  said  that  he  was  charmed  to  make  his 
acquaintance.  "  But,  Mr.  O'Sullivan,  a  curious  thing 
sometimes  happens  to  me :  I  make  the  acquaintance 
of  a  most  agreeable  gentleman  in  the  afternoon,  and 


JOHN  L.  O' SULLIVAN-.  169 

in  tlie  evening  I  find  myself  reluctantly  compelled 
to  order  him  out  of  Versailles."  O'Sullivan  men- 
tioned this  to  friends  he  was  visiting  in  the  evening, 
but  did  not  see  its  application  to  himself.  They  did, 
however.  He  went  to  his  hotel,  and  found  a  Prus- 
sian officer  at  his  door  w^ith  orders  for  him  to  leave 
Yersailles  that  night.  He  remonstrated,  and  it  was 
finally  agreed  that  he  should  start  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  A  sentry  was  placed  at  the  bedroom 
door,  who  thought  that  a  proper  discharge  of  his 
duty  required  him  to  open  it  everj^  five  minutes 
during  the  night,  to  make  sure  that  his  prisoner 
had  not  escaped.  Mrs.  O'Sullivan  did  not  quite  ap- 
preciate the  situation. 


170  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

Belleville  Demonstrates. — Radical  Clubs. — Their  Blasphemy  and  Vio- 
lence.— Unreasonable  Suspicion. — Outrages. — Diplomatic  Corps. — 
Some  of  them  leave  Paris. — Meeting  of  the  Corps. — Votes  not  to 
Leave. — Embassadors  and  Ministers. — Right  of  Correspondence  in 
a  Besieged  Place. — Commencement  of  Siege,  September  19th.-^Be- 
siegers  and  Besieged. — Advantages  of  Besieged. 

Belleville  now  began  a  series  of  patriotic  demon- 
strations at  the  Legation,  which  soon  became  a  nui- 
sance. "When  I  first  heard  the  drum  and  fife  com- 
ing up  the  Rue  Chaillot,  and  several  respectable- 
looking  citizens  came  in  and  inquired  for  Mr.  Wash- 
burne,  I  was  quite  impressed  with  the  interest  of  the 
occasion.  Washburne  went  out  upon  the  balcony 
and  made  them  a  speech,  and  thanked  them  for  this 
demonstration  patriotique.  But  when  thej  began 
to  come  daily,  and  the  rag,  tag,  and  bobtail  at  that, 
and  day  after  day  Washburne  was  called  out  to 
thank  them  for  this  demonstration  patriotique,  I 
got  very  heartily  sick  of  it.  We  were  too  busy  to 
have  our  time  wasted  in  this  way.  But  as  the  siege 
progressed,  and  we  did  our  duty  in  protecting  the 


CLUBS.  171 


Germans,  as  we  received  news  from  the  outside 
when  others  did  not,  and  that  news  was  uniformly 
unfavorable  to  the  French,  the  demonstrations  pa- 
triotiques  ceased ;  and  it  was  only  a  fear  of  the  law, 
and  that  "  divinity  that  doth  hedge  in  a  "  diplomate, 
that  prevented  our  receiving  a  demonstration  of  a 
very  different  sort. 

For  the  clubs  w^ere  now  rampant,  another  bane  of 
the  Defense.  Had  they  been  suppressed  at  the  be- 
ginning, as  they  were  at  the  end,  of  the  siege  by 
General  Yinoy,  the  result  might  have  been  differ- 
ent. Their  orators  advocated  the  wildest  and  most 
destructive  theories  amidst  the  applause  of  a  conge- 
nial audience.  Blasphemy  was  received  with  special 
favor.  I  remember  once,  however,  the  orator  sea- 
soned his  discourse  too  high  even  for  that  audience. 
He  said  he  "would  like  to  scale  heaven,  and  collar 
[empoigner]  the  Deity."  It  was  the  day  of  balloons, 
and  a  wag  in  the  audience  called  out,  "  Why  don't 
you  go  up  in  a  balloon?"  This  turned  the  laugh 
upon  the  orator,  and  he  disappeared,  for  in  Paris 
ridicule  kills. 

A  curious  and  annoying  feature  in  the  Parisian 
character  during  the  war  was  the  unreasoning  and 
unreasonable  suspicion  of  the  population.     A  gen- 


172  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

tleman  from  Philadelphia  interested  in  Fairinount 
Park,  which  was  then  just  opened,  was  struck  with 
the  beauty  of  the  gates  at  the  entrance  to  the  Bois 
on  the  Avenue  de  I'lmperatrice  —  Avenue  du  Bois 
de  Boulogne  they  call  it  now,  certainly  not  a  change 
for  the  better,  for  it  was  a  beautiful  avenue,  appropri- 
ately named  after  a  beautiful  woman.  Our  Phila- 
delphia friend  called  his  daughter's  attention  to  the 
gates,  remarking  that  they  would  be  appropriate  at 
Fairmount,  and  took  out  his  note -book  to  sketch 
them.  He  was  at  once  surrounded  by  a  mob,  he  and 
his  daughter  arrested,  and  hurried  before  the  Mairc 
of  the  arrondissement.  They  said  he  was  a  Prussian 
spy,  and  was  sketching  the  fortifications.  He  ex- 
plained who  he  was,  and  what  he  was  doing,  and  of- 
fered the  drawing  in  proof.  There  were  the  gates 
to  speak  for  themselves,  but  this  was  no  evidence  to 
them.  Mr.  Justice  Shallow  insisted  that  he  must 
be  a  spy.  Happily  for  him,  the  mayor's  clerk  was  a 
sensible  man,  and  spoke  a  little  English,  and  through 
his  instrumentality  our  friend  was  discharged. 

I  have  seen  a  mob  collect  about  a  gentleman  who 
took  from  his  pocket  a  piece  of  paper  and  a  pencil 
to  write  down  an  address.  I  knew  an  American 
friend  to  be  arrested,  mistaken  for  Mr.  Schneider, 


SUSPICION.  173 


formerly  President  of  the  Corps  Legislatif.  My 
man  was  dark,  and  Sclmeider  was  fair;  but  that 
made  no  difference.  During  the  petroleum  mad- 
ness, immediately  after  the  suppression  of  the  Com- 
mune, an  American  lady  was  followed  to  her  home 
and  very  nearly  maltreated  because  she  had  a  bottle 
of  fleuT  cTorange  in  her  hand,  which  she  had  just 
bought  at  the  druggist's.  Our  vice-consul  had  red 
curtains  in  his  sitting-room.  One  evening  he  was 
disagreeably  surprised  by  a  visit  of  armed  National 
Guards.  They  accused  him  of  making  signals  to  the 
enemy.  On  seeing  the  red  curtains,  they  became 
satisfied.  That  a  five -story  house  on  the  opposite 
side  of  a  narrow  street  must  effectually  preclude  his 
lights  from  being  seen  at  a  distance,  was  no  answer 
to  them.  Mr.  Washburne  called  the  attention  of  the 
French  Government  to  this  outrage ;  but,  as  no 
harm  had  been  done,  we  could  not  follow  the  matter 
up.  Under  our  consular  convention  with  France,  a 
consul's  house  is  inviolable ;  but  a  vice  -  consul  has 
no  official  existence  when  the  consul  is  present. 
When  he  is  absent,  his  deputy  succeeds  to  his  priv- 
ileges and  immunities  as  consular  representative  of 
the  country. 

Mr.  Washburne  was  not  the  man  to  submit  to  any 


174  CAMP,   COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

outrage  upon  German  or  American  property.  A 
squad  of  Xational  Guards  entered  and  partially  pil- 
laged the  house  of  the  German  school-master  Hedler, 
where  AVashburne's  son  and  other  American  bojs 
were  at  school.  Our  Minister  was  in  arms  at  once. 
The  Government  apologized,  the  battalion  was  pa- 
raded under  arms,  the  Chief  of  Police  made  them  a 
speech,  the  guilty  men  were  called  out  and  punished, 
and  full  damages  were  paid  to  Hedler,  assessed  to 
Mr.  Washburne's  satisfaction. 

To  resume  my  narrative.  On  the  18th  of  Septem- 
ber, several  of  the  principal  members  of  the  diplo- 
matic corps  left  Paris.  Their  departure  gave  rise  to 
a  good  deal  of  discussion,  and  much  has  been  written 
and  said  upon  the  subject.  The  diplomatic  corps, 
as  a  body,  never  left  Paris.  A  few  days  before  the 
siege.  Lord  Lyons  called  upon  Jules  Favre.  Favre 
suggested  that  if  the  diplomatic  corps  wished  to 
leave  Paris — and  it  was  natural  that  they  should — he 
was  prepared  to  accompany  them.  Lord  Lyons  re- 
plied* that  he  saw  no  necessity  for  departure  at  that 
time.  Favre  thereupon  said  that,  in  this  case,  he 
should  stay  too. 

On  the  morning  of  tlie  18th,  Prince  Metternich, 
the  Austrian  Embassador,  came  very  early  to  the 


DIPLOMATIC  CORPS.  175 

British  Embassy,  and  said  that  he  meant  to  go  away 
that  afternoon  in  company  with  the  Turkish  Embas- 
sador and  the  Italian  Minister,  and  hoped  that  Lord 
Lyons  would  accompany  them.  Lord  Lyons  replied 
that  he  saw  no  necessity  for  haste,  for  Bismarck 
would  let  them  go  at  any  time.  Metternich  answer- 
ed, "  I  don't  want  to  ask  any  favors  of  Bismarck,  and 
my  Government  doesn't  want  me  to."  Lord  Lyons 
then  finding  that  the  Great  Powers  of  Europe  had 
left,  or  were  about  to  leave,  Paris,  consented  to  go 
too,  and  called  again  upon  Favre.  But  Favre  told 
him  that  he  had  then  made  his  arrangements  to  stay ; 
but  that  he  should  send  Count  Chaudordy  to  repre- 
sent his  department  at  Tours. 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  representatives 
of  several  of  the  Great  Powers  had  left  Paris,  a 
meeting  of  the  corps  was  called  by  the  IS'uncio,  at 
the  request  of  several  of  its  members.  The  question 
was  put.  Shall  the  diplomatic  corps  leave  Paris  ?  and 
decided  in  the  negative. 

But  the  members  departed  one  by  one,  till  but  a 
few  were  left.  Another  meeting  was  then  called, 
and  again  it  was  decided  not  to  leave  Paris. 

It  is  quite  generally  supposed  that  Mr.  Washburne 
was   the  only  Minister  who   remained   during  the 


176  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

whole  siege.  This  is  incorrect.  There  were  six  in 
all — the  representatives  of  Northern  powers — Kor- 
waj  and  Sweden,  Denmark,  Holland,  Belgium,  Switz- 
erland, and  the  United  States.  In  their  relations  to 
the  French  Government,  and  in  their  correspondence 
with  Count  Bismarck  upon  their  right  to  communi- 
cate with  their  respective  governments  during  the 
siege,  and  to  due  notice  in  case  of  proposed  bom- 
bardment, these  gentlemen  acted  in  unison  as  the 
diplomatic  corps  at  Paris. 

The  division  of  diplomatic  representatives  into 
embassadors  and  ministers  appears  to  me  to  be  a 
mistake.  It  is  certainly  pleasant  for  the  embassa- 
dors. They  have  the  right  of  direct  communication 
with  the  sovereign,  for  they  are  held  to  represent 
the  person  of  their  own  sovereign,  which  the  minis- 
ters do  not.  At  Paris,  at  the  court  festivities,  they 
occupied  arm-chairs  by  the  side  of  the  Emperor 
and  Empress,  while  the  ministers  were  seated  on 
benches  in  a  loge.  They  had  precedence  on  the  re- 
ception-days of  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  A 
minister  might  have  waited  two  hours ;  an  embassa- 
dor dropped  in,  and  entered  before  him.  Some  of 
them,  like  Lord  Lyons,  did  not  abuse  this  privilege. 
He  transacted  his  business  as  quickly  as  possible,  and 


RIGHT  OF  CORRESPONDENCE,  177 

gave  place  to  another.  The  Turkish  Embassador,  on 
the  other  hand,  used  to  gossip  by  the  hour.  That  he 
kept  a  dozen  of  his  colleagues  waiting  seemed  rather 
to  please  him.  I  once  heard  Lord  Lyons  remon- 
strate with  him  for  doing  so,  and  he  giggled  as  if 
he  thought  it  rather  a  good  joke.  Li  Prussia  this  is 
not  permitted :  first  come,  first  served,  is  the  rule  at 
Berlin,  and  it  seems  to  me  to  be  the  just  one.  Mr. 
Bancroft  got  this  rule  established,  and  deserves  great 
credit  for  the  stout  fight  he  made  on  the  occasion. 
Count  Bismarck  is  stated  to  have  said  that  if  there 
had  been  no  embassadors,  there  would  have  been  no 
w^ar  ;  for  the  French  Government  could  not  have  in- 
vented the  story  that  their  Embassador  had  been  in- 
sulted by  the  King.  However  this  may  be,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  system  leads  to  the  forma- 
tion of  cliques,  and,  consequently,  to  separate  action 
by  a  clique  instead  of  by  the  whole  corps.  This  is 
bad  under  any  circumstances,  but  particularly  un- 
fortunate in  great  emergencies. 

In  regard  to  the  right  of  free  communication  with 
their  respective  governments  claimed  by  the  diplo- 
matic corps  at  Paris,  Count  Bismarck  refused  to  ac- 
cord it.  He  argued  that  if  these  gentlemen  saw  fit 
to  shut  themselves  uj)  in  a  besieged  place  when  they 


1 78  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

could  go  away  for  the  asking,  and  when  the  French 
Government  had  made  provision  for  this  case  by  es- 
tabhshing  a  branch  of  the  Government  at  Tours, 
they  must  take  the  consequences ;  but  as  a  favor  he 
would  permit  correspondence  if  it  were  left  un- 
sealed. Of  course  the  coi-ps  declined  these  terms. 
To  Mr.  Washburne  he  wrote  (and  Bismarck  writes 
and  speaks  admirable  English)  that  his  position 
as  protector  of  the  Xorth  Germans  in  France  en- 
titled him  to  a  different  answer ;  that  as  an  evi- 
dence of  his  gratitude  for  tlie  fidelity  and  energy 
with  which  the  duties  of  this  position  had  been  dis- 
charged, it  had  given  him  great  pleasure  to  obtain 
from  the  King  permission  for  Mr.  Washburne  to  re- 
ceive a  sealed  bag  containing  his  dispatches  and  his 
private  correspondence  as  often  as  military  necessi- 
ties would  permit. 

There  has  been  much  difference  of  opinion  ex- 
pressed as  to  the  right  of  a  diplomatic  body  volun- 
tarily remaining  in  a  besieged  place  to  receive  and 
answer  dispatches  in  sealed  correspondence.  Mr. 
Washburne  contended  that  they  had  such  a  right ; 
and  in  this  he  was  energetically  supported  by  Mr. 
Fish.  I  confess,  however,  that  to  my  mind  the: 
right  is  by  no  means  clear.     To  me  Bismarck's  ar 


RIGHT  OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  179 

gument  is  unanswerable.  ''  You  see  fit  to  stay  when 
the  Great  Powers  of  Europe  have  gone,  and  when 
the  French  Government  has  made  arrangements  for 
the  due  discharge  of  your  duties  elsewhere.  By  so 
doing  you.  put  yourselves  in  the  position  of  other 
inhabitants  of  the  besieged  place,  and  can  claim  no 
privileges  not  accorded  to  them."  In  the  case  of  Mr. 
Washburne,  charged  with  the  protection  of  the  Ger- 
mans at  the  request  of  the  German  Government  it- 
self, the  necessity  for  remaining  at  Paris  may  have 
existed.  At  all  events,  if  he  thought  that  it  did,  it 
did  not  lie  in  the  mouth  of  that  Government  to  say 
that  it  did  not.  By  choosing  as  their  agent  the  rep- 
resentative of  a  friendly  and  independent  power, 
they  left  his  judgment  unfettered  as  to  the  manner 
of  discharging  his  duties.  The  same  remark  applies 
to  M.  Kern,  the  Minister  of  Switzerland,  who  was 
charged  with  the  protection  of  the  Bavarians  and 
the  Badois.  But  as  regards  the  other  gentlemen,  I 
can  not  but  agree  with  Count  Bismarck.  I  was  con- 
firmed in  this  view,  after  the  siege  was  over,  by  Gen- 
eral Sheridan.  Dining  at  my  table  one  day  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Washburne,  he  said  to  him,  "  If  I  had 
been  in  Moltke's  place,  you  would  not  have  had  your 


l8o  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

The  siege  commenced  on  the  19th  of  September. 
For  some  days  previous  the  streets  of  Paris  had  pre- 
sented an  unwonted  and  cm*ious  appearance.  They 
were  thronged  with  the  quaintest-looking  old  carts, 
farm-wagons,  Noah's  arks  of  every  kind,  loaded  with 
the  furniture  of  the  poor  inhabitants  of  the  neigh- 
borhood flying  to  Paris  for  safety.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  stations  were  thronged  with  the  carriages 
of  the  better  classes  leaving  the  city.  The  railroads 
were  so  overworked  that  they  finally  refused  to  take 
any  baggage  that  could  not  be  carried  by  the  passen- 
ger himself.  Imagine  the  painful  situation  of  some 
of  our  fair  countrywomen,  Worth's  admirers  and  pa- 
trons !  To  have  come  to  Paris  amidst  all  the  dan- 
gers of  war  to  procure  something  to  wear,  to  have 
procured  it,  and  then  to  be  unable  to  carry  it  away ! 
But  what  will  not  woman's  wit  and  energy  do  under 
such  circumstances?  A  clever  and  energetic  friend 
of  mine  hired  a  hateau  -  mouche^  one  of  the  little 
steamers  that  ply  on  the  Seine  from  one  part  of 
Paris  to  another,  and,  embarking  with  her  "  impedi- 
menta," sailed  triumphantly  for  Havre. 

It  had  been  agreed  between  Mr.  Washburne  and 
myself  that  if  the  diplomatic  corps  left  Paris,  and 
he    accompanied   them,  I    should    remain    to    take 


BESIEGERS  AND  BESIEGED. 


charge  of  the  Legation,  and  look  after  American  and 
German  property ;  and  he  so  reported  to  Mr.  Fish. 
I  had  quite  a  curiosity  to  be  a  besieged.  I  had  been 
a  besieger  at  Port  Hudson,  and  thought  that  I  would 
like  to  experience  the  other  sensation.  The  sensa- 
tion is  not  an  unpleasant  one,  especially  in  a  city 
like  Paris.  If  you  have  been  overworked  and  har- 
assed, the  relief  is  very  great.  There  is  a  calm,  a 
sort  of  Sunday  rest,  about  it  that  is  quite  delightful. 
In  my  experience  the  life  of  the  besieged  is  alto- 
gether the  most  comfortable  of  the  two.  You  live 
quietly  in  your  own  house,  and  with  your  own  serv- 
ants ;  and  with  a  little  forethought  you  may  be  am- 
ply provisioned.  You  sleep  in  your  own  room,  in- 
stead of  in  a  cold,  damp,  and  muddy  tent;  and  if 
an  eclat  cTohiis — as  the  French  delicately  call  it — 
strikes  your  house  on  one  side,  you  move  into  the 
other.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  fine  writing 
about  famous  sieges,  and  the  suffering  and  heroism 
of  the  inhabitants.  I  imagine  that  there  was  not  so 
much  suffering,  after  all,  at  Saragossa ;  and  that  the 
"  Maid  "  and  her  companions  in  arms  had  plenty  of 
corn-meal  and  good  mnle-meat  to  eat  —  not  a  dis- 
agreeable or  unwholesome  diet  for  a  while  ! 


l82  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTEE  XY. 

Balloons. — Large  Xumber  dispatched. — Small  Number  lost. — "Worth. 
—  Carrier  -  pigeons.  —  Their  Failure.  —  Their  Instincts.  —  Times 
"Agony  Column." — Correspondence. — Letters  to  Besieged. — Count 
Solms. — Our  Dispatch-bag. — Moltke  complains  that  it  is  abused. — 
Washburne's  Answer. — Bismarck's  Reply. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  siege,  one  of  the  absorb- 
ing topics  of  discussion  among  the  Parisians  was  the 
means  of  communication  with  the  outer  world.  The 
French  had  always  had  a  fancy  for  ballooning,  and 
were  probably  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the  world  in 
this  respect.  They  now  applied  their  experience  to 
a  practical  use,  and  soon  a  service  of  mail  balloons 
was  organized,  starting  from  Paris  twice  a  week. 
At  first  they  were  dispatched  in  the  afternoon,  for 
the  all-sufficient  reason  that  they  always  had  been 
dispatched  in  the  afternoon ;  but  soon  they  found 
that  the  balloon  did  not  rise  quickly  enough  to  es- 
cape the  bullets  of  the  Prussians  encamped  upon  the 
hills  which  surround  Paris.  So  they  changed  the 
hour  of  departure  to  one  in  the  morning.  "When 
daylight  appeared  they  were  beyond  the  Prussian 


BALLOONS.  183 


lines.  Indeed,  the  speed  of  the  balloon  is  sometimes 
marvelous.  Starting  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
one  of  them  fell  into  the  sea  off  the  coast  of  Holland 
at  daylight.  The  passengers  were  rescued  bj  a  fish- 
ing-smack. A  second  descended  in  Norway  on  the 
very  morning  it  left  Paris.  The  officer  of  the  Post- 
office  who  was  charged  with  the  organization  of 
this  service  told  me  that,  of  ninety-seven  balloons 
that  left  Paris  during  the  siege,  ninety-four  arrived 
safely;  about  equal  to  railway -trains  in  these  latter 
days.  Two  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and 
one  was  never  heard  of.  It  was  supposed  to  have 
drifted  out  to  sea  and  been  lost.  A  balloon  was 
seen  off  Eddystone  Light-house.  A  few  days  after- 
ward a  gentleman  spending  the  winter  at  Torquay 
received  a  letter  from  the  rector  at  Land's  End, 
Cornwall,  stating  that  a  number  of  letters  had  drift- 
ed ashore,  supposed  to  have  been  lost  from  a  balloon, 
and  among  them  was  one  addressed  to  him ;  that  it 
had  been  dried,  and  on  receipt  of  twopence  it  would 
be  sent  him.  It  proved  to  be  a  balloon  letter  from 
me,  and  is  still  preserved  as  a  souvenir  of  the  siege 
and  the  sea. 

Quite  at  the  beginning  of  the  siege  a  member  of 
my  own  family  received  a  letter  from  me,  dispatch- 


184  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


ed  bj  the  first  balloon  which  left  Paris.  Its  arrival 
created  quite  a  sensation  in  the  little  Welsh  water- 
ing-place where  she  was  spending  a  part  of  the  au- 
tumn. People  stopped  her  in  the  street,  and  asked 
to  see  the  "  balloon  letter.''  The  natives  evidently 
thought  that  it  must  have  something  of  the  balloon 
about  it. 

I  recollect  Worth's  coming  to  the  Legation  one 
day — (and  who  does  not  know  Worth  ?  He  rules 
the  women  throughout  the  civilized  and  toileted 
world  ;  and  through  the  women  he  rules  the  men,  or 
their  pockets  at  least).  Worth  was  in  great  distress. 
His  nephew  had  gone  out  in  a  balloon  and  been  capt- 
ured, and  there  were  rumors  that  his  life  was  in 
danger.  I  promised  to  ascertain  his  fate,  if  possible, 
and  prepared  a  letter  to  Count  Bismarck,  which  Mr. 
Washburne  signed.  Bismarck  replied  most  prompt- 
ly, as  he  always  did.  And  here  let  me  state  that 
during  the  siege,  at  the  request  of  anxious  wives  and 
parents,  we  often  addressed  inquiries  to  German 
Head-quarters  to  ascertain  the  fate  of  a  husband  or 
a  son,  and  that  these  inquiries  always  received  the 
promptest  and  kindest  attention.  To  the  inquiry 
about  young  Worth,  Bismarck  replied  that  he  had 
been  captured  attempting  to  cross  the  Prussian  lines 


CARRIER-PIGEONS.  185 

in  a  balloon ;  that  to  cross  the  Prussian  lines  in  the 
air  was  like  crossing  them  on  the  land  ;  and  that  the 
person  caught  attempting  it  would  be  similarly  pun- 
ished ;  that  young  Worth  was  in  prison,  and  would 
be  kept  there  for  a  few  months,  to  teach  others  not 
to  attempt  the  same  thing ;  but  that  no  other  harm 
had  happened,  or  would  happen,  to  him.  I  sent  for 
Worth,  and  read  him  the  letter.  He  was  much  re- 
lieved, and  expressed  himself  very  grateful.  Some 
years  later  a  relative  of  mine  took  the  material  for 
a  dress  to  Worth,  and  asked  him  to  make  it  up. 
Think  of  the  audacity  of  such  a  request !  But 
Worth  did  it.  If  gratitude  is  to  be  measured  not 
by  the  magnitude  of  the  favor  conferred,  but  by  the 
sacritice  made  by  him  who  confers  it,  then  Worth's 
gratitude  stands  out  in  unequaled  grandeur. 

But  while  with  the  help  of  balloons  the  Parisians 
managed  very  well  to  send  letters  from  Paris,  it  was 
no  easy  task  to  receive  them.  The  pigeon  experi- 
ment proved  a  failure.  ISTo  doubt  pigeons  can  be 
trained  to  do  their  work  tolerably  well,  and  the 
French  Government  now  has  a  large  collection  of 
carriers  at  the  Jardin  d'Acclimatation.  But  during 
the  siege  very  few  succeeded  in  reaching  home.  A 
carrier  will  scarcely  ever  make  a  two  days'  journey. 


1 86  CAJ/F,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

If  night  overtakes  him,  he  goes  astray,  misled  per- 
haps by  siren  wood -pigeons.  In  winter,  too,  the 
days  are  short,  snow-storms  blind  him,  and  hawks 
pounce  upon  him.  One  of  the  canards  circulated  in 
Paris  was  that  the  Prussians  trained  hawks  for  this 
purpose.  The  instinct  of  the  animal,  too,  seems  to 
teach  it  to  fly  northward  only.  Two  or  three  times 
a  carrier  arrived  safely,  bringing  with  it  one  of  those 
marvels  of  scientific  skill,  a  photographic  letter. 
The  microscope  revealed  the  contents  of  a  good-sized 
newspaper  transferred  to  a  scrap  of  paper  that  a  pig- 
eon could  carry  under  its  wing. 

Some  of  the  French  residing  in  London  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  "agony  column"  of  the  Times  to 
send  news  to  their  friends.  They  had  faith  in  the 
ubiquity  of  the  great  journal,  and  their  faith  was  re- 
warded. I  doubt  if  you  could  so  hedge  in  a  city 
that  the  Times  would  not  penetrate  it.  Our  Lega- 
tion in  London  sent  it  to  us.  I  received  one  num- 
ber a  week.  In  it  I  found  multitudes  oipineres  ad- 
dressed to  Mr.  Washburne,  and  some  to  myself,  beg- 
ging us  to  inform  Mr.  So-and-so,  or  Madame  Blank, 
that  their  wife,  or  husband,  or  children,  were  at  such 
and  such  a  place,  and  all  well.  When  these  mes- 
sages were  purely  personal,  we  delivered  them.     If 


CORRESPONDENCE.  187 

they  were  in  ciplier,  or  susceptible  of  a  double  mean- 
ing, we  did  not.  I  remember  finding  a  message  in 
cipher,  and  addressed  to  the  Minister  of  War.  I  not 
only  did  not  deliver  it,  but  I  burned  it  for  fear  that 
the  favor  of  receiving  our  letters  and  papers  accord- 
ed us  by  the  German  Government  might  be  abused. 
About  two  days  before  Xh^jour  de  Van,  I  received  a 
Times  of  December  23d,  for  the  Germans  purpose- 
ly delayed  our  bag,  probably  that  the  news,  should 
it  become  known  to  the  French  Government,  might 
not  be  acted  on  by  it,  to  the  detriment  of  German 
military  operations.  The  "  agony  column  "  was  full 
of  messages  to  besieged  relatives.  I  thought  that  the 
Parisians  could  receive  no  more  acceptable  presents 
for  their  New  -  year's  -  day,  so  I  copied  all  the  mes- 
sages which  had  addresses  and  sent  them  by  mail. 
But  some  had  no  addresses.  How  the  writers  ever 
expected  them  to  reach  their  destinations,  I  do  not 
understand.  I  copied  them  too,  however,  and  sent 
them  to  the  Gaulois.  On  New-year's  morning  that 
journal  published  them.  In  a  few  days  it  received 
grateful  letters,  thanking  the  editors  warmly,  and 
offering  to  pay  a  share  of  the  expense,  "  which  must 
have  been  great."  The  Gaulois  replied,  declining 
all  payment,  but  modestly  assuming  great  credit  to 


1 88  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

itself  for  its  "  unparalleled  enterprise,"  and  assuring 
its  correspondents  that  it  should  continue  to  spare 
no  expense  to  procure  them  ne^vs  of  their  fami- 
lies. 

The  Prussian  officers,  too,  at  head-quarters  not  un- 
frequently  sent  in  letters,  with  the  request  that  we 
would  distribute  them.  I  remember  once  receiving 
from  Count  Solms,  who  had  been  charge  cT affaires 
at  Paris  after  the  departure  of  the  Embassador,  a 
letter  forwarded  by  him,  without  address,  without 
signature,  and  without  date.  I  waited  a  few  days, 
thinking  that  other  letters  might  refer  to  it,  and  that 
the  owner  would  call  and  claim  it.  No  one  came. 
As  the  difficulties  increased,  of  course  I  was  the 
more  determined  to  trace  out  the  owner.  Every 
thing  else  failing,  I  read  the  letter,  to  try  to  obtain 
a  clue.  Fortunately,  I  found  the  name  of  Mr.  Hen- 
ri Blount.  I  knew  Mr.  Blount,  and  knew  that  his 
father  was  in  Paris.  I  wrote  him,  and  told  him  the 
circumstances.  He  replied  that  if  I  would  trust  him 
with  the  letter,  he  thought  that  he  could  find  the 
owner.  He  took  it  to  the  Jockey  Club  at  dinner- 
time, and  asked  if  there  was  any  gentleman  there 
whose  name  was  Charles,  and  whose  wife's  name  was 
Anna.     A  gentleman  immediately  claimed  it,  but 


CORRESPONDENCE.  189 

after   a  glance    reluctantly  gave   it   up.      Another 
claimed  it,  and  turned  out  to  be  the  right  man. 

I  had  rather  an  amusing  correspondence  with 
Count  Solms  in  reference  to  this  letter  and  other 
matters.  I  give  two  or  three  of  the  letters  which 
passed  between  us,  as  showing  that  we  contrived  to 
enjoy  ourselves  after  a  fashion  in  Paris,  notwith- 
standing the  rigors  of  the  siege.  I  give  the  letters 
as  written.  One  of  them  is,  perhaps,  better  adapted 
to  the  French  language  than  to  its  more  austere  sis- 
ter English. 

"Paris,  le  13  Decembre,  ISYO. 

"MoN  Cher  Comte, — Yotre  lettre  n'est  pas  vrai- 
ment  d'un  "  interet  palpitant,"  mais  vous  etes  bien 
disciplines  vous  autres  Prussiens,  et  j'adore  la  disci- 
pline.    E'ous  voyons  les  resultats. 

"I^eanmoins,  il  puisse  etre  permis  a  un  neutre  de 
vous  remercier  de  vos  anxietes  a  son  egard.  Mais 
il  ne  meurt  pas  absolument  de  faim.  J'ai  dine,  il  y 
a  quatre  jours,  chez  un  restaurateur  bien  connu,  en 
compagnie  de  quatre  jeunes  gens  que  vous  connaissez 
bien.  IS'ous  avons  mange  un  cochon-de-lait,  un  ca- 
nard roti,  des  truffes  et  du  beurre  frais.  Ce  n'est  pas 
la  famine  9a — tout  aiTose  de  Chateau  Margaux  de  '50. 
]S^e  croyez  pas  que  dans  ces  temps  ci  j'ai  commande 
un  tel  diner  de  Sybarite  moi-meme.  J'ai  ete  invite. 
Yoila  pourquoi  je  ne  puis  rien  vous  dire  de  I'addition. 


190  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


"  J'espere  qu'on  ne  trouvera  rien  de  compromet- 
tant  dans  cette  lettre  excepte  pour  le  cochon-de-lait. 
Lui  il  a  ete  bien  compromis. 

"  Je  suis  toujoiirs  a  vos  ordres  pour  envojer  des 
lettres  de  famille  de  vos  amis. 

"  Votre  devoue,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

"  Comme  je  plains  vous  autres  pauvres  Prussiens 
enfermes  hors  de  Paris !" 

"  Versailles,  le  17  Decembre,  "70. 

"  MoN  Cher  Colonel, — Merci  de  votre  amnsante 
lettre.  Le  menu  qu'elle  contenait  m'a  completement 
tranquillise,  et  la  solidite  de  votre  repas  me  fait  es- 
perer  que  vous  jouissez  encore  des  forces  physiques 
necessaires  pour  que  je  puisse  me  permettre  de  vous 
prier  de  vouloir  bien  vous  charger  de  la  distribution 
des  lettres  que  j'ai  Thonneur  de  vous  envoyer  ci- 
joints.     Mille  amities  de  votre  tres-discipline, 

"  F.  SOLMS." 
"  Paris,  le  25  Decembre,  '70. 

"  MoN  Cher  Comte, — J'ai  re§u  votre  billet  du  17, 
et  je  me  suis  hate  d'envoyer  les  lettres  y  incluses. 
Quelques-unes  j'ai  livrees  moi-mcme ;  les  autres  je  les 
ai  mises  a  la  poste. 

"Depuis  le  repas  dont  la  solidite  a  tant  frappe  vo- 
tre esprit,  je  suis  heureux  de  vous  dire  que  j'ai  mange 
quelques-uns  encore  plus  solides.  Que  pensez-vous 
de  lard  sale  aux  haricots  —  pas  verts?     Je  me  suis 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 9 1 

trouve  transporte  aiix  premiers  jours  de  notre  petite 
guerre  en  Kansas,  au  Grand-Onest,  il  y  a  16  ans. 

"  ]^ous  avons  line  nonvelle  idee  a  Paris,  line  idee 
toiit-a-fait  parisienne.  Connaissez-vous  la  cause  de 
la  guerre?  Evidemment  non.  Eh  bien,  la  Provi- 
dence a  trouve  que  les  vieilles  races  d'Europe  com- 
mencent  a  se  degenerer.  Elle  desire  les  melanger  un 
peu.  II  y  a  probablement  350,000  soldats  frangais 
prisonniers  en  Allemagne ;  il  y  a  peut-etre  600,000 
soldats  allemands  sur  le  territoire  frangais.  Yous 
voyez,  ou  plutot  vous  verrez,  les  resultats.  Yoila 
I'idee  que  j'ai  entendu  developpee  avec  beaucoup 
d' eloquence  par  la  belle  marquise  de  a  une  pe- 
tite soiree  ou  j'ai  eu  I'honneur  d'assister  il  y  a  quel- 
ques  jours.  Je  la  livre,  gratuitement  bien  entendu, 
au  George  Bancroft  de  I'avenir — '  La  cause  et  les  re- 
sultats de  la  guerre  de  1870.' 

"  Yous  voyez  que  nous  tacbons  de  nous  amuser 
encore  a  Paris. 

"  Agreez,  etc.,  etc.,  etc." 

To  be  in  exclusive  receipt  of  news  during  a  siege 
is  gratifying  to  one's  vanity,  but  it  has  its  decidedly 
disagreeable  side.  I  doubt  if  the  siege  were  to  be- 
gin again  if  Mr.  Washburne  would  accept  a  bag  con- 
taining any  thing  but  his  official  dispatches  and  his 
family  letters.  If  we  gave  the  Parisians  news,  they 
said  that  we  gave  them  only  bad  news.     If  we  with- 


192  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

held  it,  they  said  that  we  were  withholding  the  news 
of  French  victories.  I  speak  of  what  was  said  in 
the  workmen's  clubs,  and  by  the  inferior  press  ;  the 
better  classes  and  the  more  respectable  newspapers 
found  no  fault.  Then  General  Moltke  complained 
that  we  abused  our  privilege.  His  scouts  had  in- 
tercej)ted  a  balloon  letter,  in  which  the  writer  spoke 
of  the  facility  of  receiving  letters  through  the  Lega- 
tion, and  instructed  her  correspondent  to  write  under 
cover  to  me.  That  clever  writer,  too,  Labouchere, 
"  The  Besieged  Eesident,"  told  in  the  columns  of 
the  Daily  News  how  small  a  matter  it  was  to  be 
shut  up  in  Paris.  ''  Go  to  the  Legation  of  the 
United  States  on  any  day,  and  there  you  find  the 
latest  London  journals  lying  on  the  table."  All  this 
was  nuts  to  General  Moltke,  for  he  had  opposed  our 
receiving  our  bag,  but  had  been  overruled  by  the 
King  on  the  request  of  Count  Bismarck.  Bismarck 
wrote  to  Mr.  Washburne,  calling  his  attention  to 
Moltke's  complaint.  Washburne  replied.  After 
stating  the  circumstances  under  which  I  had  author- 
ized a  letter  to  be  sent  under  cover  to  me,  for  an 
American  lady  whose  daughter  was  sick  with  the 
small-pox  at  Brussels,  he  proceeded  to  say  that  both 
he  and  I  had  endeavored  lionorably  to  discharge  our 


WASHBURNE'S  ANSWER.  193 

duties  as  neutrals;  that  we  had  acted  according  to 
the  best  of  our  judgments  under  this  sense  of  duty ; 
that  we  proposed  to  continue  to  act  as  we  had  done ; 
and  that  if  the  German  authorities  could  not  trust 
us,  they  had  better  stop  the  bag  altogether,  with  the 
exception,  of  course,  of  the  dispatches  from  our  Gov- 
ernment. At  the  same  time  he  sent  back  nearly  five 
hundred  letters  which  had  been  sent  us  without  au- 
thority, and  which  had  not  been  delivered,  as  the 
best  possible  proof  that  he  had  not  abused  his  priv- 
ilege.    Washburne's  letter  conchided  as  follows : 

"  Before  closing  this  communication,  I  trust  your 
Excellency  will  pardon  me  a  further  observation. 
For  the  period  of  six  months  I  have  been  charged 
with  the  delicate,  laborious,  and  responsible  duty  of 
protecting  your  countrymen  in  Paris.  Of  the  man- 
ner in  which  these  duties,  having  relation  to  both 
belligerents,  have  been  performed,  I  do  not  propose 
to  speak.  I  am  content  to  abide  by  the  record  made 
up  in  the  State  Department  at  Washington.  But  I 
can  state  that  there  has  never  been  a  time  when 
these  duties  have  involved  graver  consequences  and 
responsibilities  than  at  the  present  moment.  As  I 
have  expressed  to  you  before,  I  have  been  astonished 
at  the  number  of  Germans  who,  as  it  turns  out,  were 
left  in  the  city  when  the  gates  were  closed.  Having 
exhausted  their  last  resources,  and  finding  themselves 

9 


194  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

in  a  state  of  the  most  absolute  destitution,  they  have 
applied  to  me  for  protection  and  aid,  which  I  have 
so  far  been  enabled  to  extend  to  them  from  the 
funds  placed  in  my  hands  by  the  Koyal  Govern- 
ment. The  number  of  these  people  amounts  to-day 
to  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-live ;  and 
it  is  certain,  had  there  not  been  some  one  to  protect 
and  aid  them,  many  must  have  inevitably  perished 
of  cold  and  starvation.  My  position  in  relation  to 
these  people  and  to  your  Government  is  known  to 
the  people  of  Paris,  and  as  the  siege  wears  on,  and 
the  exasperation  is  intensified,  I  now  find  myself  ex- 
posed to  the  hostility  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  city.  While  your  military  authorities 
seem  to  be  agitated  by  the  gravest  fears  in  relation 
to  my  dispatch-bag,  I  am  daily  violently  assailed  by 
a  portion  of  the  Paris  press  as  a  "  Prussian  represent- 
ative "  and  a  "  Prussian  sympathizer ;"  and  a  short 
time  since  it  was  proposed  in  one  of  the  clubs  that  I 
should  be  hanged — rather  a  pleasant  diversion  in  these 
dreary  days  of  siege  through  which  w^e  ai'e  passing. 

"  I  will  only  add  that,  so  long  as  I  am  the  diplo- 
matic representative  of  my  country  in  Paris,  I  shall 
discharge  every  duty,  even  to  the  end,  and  in  the 
face  of  every  circumstance,  that  I  owe  to  my  own 
Government,  and  every  duty  that  I  have  by  its  di- 
rection assumed  toward  the  sul)jects  of  the  Xorth 
German  Confederation. 

*'  I  have  the  honor,  etc.,  etc." 


BISMARCK'S  REPLY.  195 

Bismarck  replied  with  an  apology.  He  said  he 
knew  that  the  privilege  accorded  us  had  not  been 
abused,  and  he  was  satisfied  that  it  would  not  be ; 
that  the  military  authorities  had  called  his  attention 
to  this  matter,  and  that  it  was  therefore  his  duty  to 
call  Mr.  Washburne's  attention  to  it ;  that  the  bag 
would  continue  to  be  sent  as  usual ;  and  that  he  re- 
turned the  five  hundred  letters,  with  full  authority 
to  Mr.  Washburne  to  deliver  them  if  he  saw  fit.  I 
heard  afterward  that  Bismarck  was  delighted  with 
Washburne's  letter,  and  took  special  pleasure  in 
sending  a  copy  to  General  Moltke. 


196  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

Burnside's  Peace  Mission.  —  Sent  in  by  Bismarck.  —  Interview  with 
Trochu.  —  The  Sympathetic  Tear. —  Question  of  Revictualment. — 
Failure  of  Negotiations.  —  Point  of  Vanity.  —  Flags  of  Truce. — 
French  accused  of  Violation  of  Parole.— Question  of  the  Francs- 
Tireurs.  —  Foreigners  refused  Permission  to  leave  Paris. — Wash- 
burne  insists.  —  Permission  granted. — Departure  of  Americans. — 
Scenes  at  Creteil. 

Eaelt  in  the  month  of  October  we  were  surprised 
by  a  visit  from  General  Burnside.  He  happened  to 
be  at  Versailles,  more  from  curiosity  than  any  other 
motive,  where,  through  General  Sheridan,  he  became 
quite  intimate  with  Count  Bismarck.  Bismarck 
asked  him  one  day  if  he  would  like  to  go  into  Paris 
on  a  peace  mission.  Lord  Granville  had  been  very 
urgent  with  the  King  to  grant  the  French  an  armis- 
tice, and  had  induced  him  to  offer  it,  with  a  view  to 
an  election.  There  would  be  no  difficulty,  Bismarck 
said,  on  any  point  except  that  of  revictualment. 
Tliis  General  Moltke  would  not  hear  of.  Not  an 
ounce  of  food  should  enter  Paris.  "  Now,"  said  Bis- 
marck, "  that  Government  of  the  National  Defense 


BURNS  IDE'S    VISIT.  197 

is  not  the  wisest  in  the  world,  but  tliej  are  not  such 
d  —  d  fools  as  to  stand  out  on  a  point  like  that. 
There  will  be  an  armistice,  and  an  armistice  means 
peace.  If  there  is  peace,  England  will  get  the  cred- 
it of  it ;  and  as  the  United  States  represents  us,  I 
would  rather  that  you  had  the  credit  of  it."  Burn- 
side  came  in  accordingly,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Paul 
Forbes,  who  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  aid-de- 
camp for  the  occasion,  and  dubbed  a  colonel.  The 
Prussians  could  not  realize  the  idea  of  a  general 
traveling  without  his  aid.  A  meeting  was  appointed 
with  Trochu,  and  I  went  as  interpreter.  His  head- 
quarters were  at  the  Louvre,  in  a  large  and  conven- 
ient apartment,  occupied,  under  the  Empire,  by  M. 
Eoulier.  Before  Burnside  had  stated  the  object  of 
his  visit,  Trochu  made  us  a  speech.  He  spoke  well 
for  nearly  haK  an  hour.  He  told  us  that  France 
had  been  very  wicked;  that  she  had  fallen  away 
from  the  true  Catholic  faith ;  that  infidelity  and 
skepticism  were  rampant  in  the  land ;  that  the  mis- 
fortunes which  had  come  upon  her  were  deserved; 
that  they  were  visitations  for  the  sins  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  but  that,  when  they  had  repented  and  humbled 
themselves,  he  had  faith  that  the  punishment  would 
pass  from  them.     He  continued  in  this  strain  for 


198  CAMT,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 

full  twenty  minutes,  speaking  very  eloquently  ;  then 
pulled  out  liis  handkerchief,  and  saying,  "  Excuse 
my  emotion,"  he  wept.  After  this  he  came  to  busi- 
ness. Burnside  confined  himself  most  conscientious- 
ly to  the  exact  tenor  of  his  message.  Trochu  made 
repeated  suggestions  of  such  and  such  possibilities, 
but  Burnside  refused  to  follow  him.  lie  knew 
nothing  but  his  instructions.  As  I  had  feared, 
Trochu  bristled  up  at  the  no-revictualment  clause. 
"  Such  a  condition  had  never  been  heard  of.  From 
the  most  remote  antiquity,  there  had  always  been 
revictualment  allowed  in  case  of  armistice,  so  much 
per  head  per  diem."  He  gave  us  at  that  time  no 
positive  answer,  but  said  he  would  discuss  the  mat- 
ter with  his  colleagues.  Negotiations  failed  upon 
this  very  point.  The  French  Government  called  it 
a  point  of  honor.  It  was  rather  a  point  of  vanity. 
We  did  not  need  the  provisions,  as  the  result  showed 
we  had  food  enough  for  three  months.  Yet,  for  that 
barren  privilege  of  bringing  in  food  which  was  not 
needed,  the  Government  of  the  National  Defense 
rejected  the  armistice.  They  could  then  have  made 
peace,  with  the  loss  of  one  province  and  two  milliards. 
They  continued  the  war,  and  lost  two  provinces  and 
five  milliards  (one  thousand  millions  of  dollars). 


GENERAL    TROCHU.  199 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  members  of  the 
Government  of  tlie  National  Defense  were  self-ap- 
pointed. Tliey  were  always  preaching  of  their  ear- 
nest desire  to  appeal  to  the  people.  Here  was  the 
opportunity,  and  they  rejected  it.  It  is  a  pleasant 
thing  to  appoint  yourself  and  your  particular  friends 
rulers  of  a  great  country  like  France,  and  one  does 
not  readily  resign  the  position.  The  people  might 
not  re-appoint  you. 

As  we  left  the  Louvre,  I  said  to  Burnside,  '^  If 
France  is  to  be  saved,  it  will  not  be  by  that  man." 
"  I  don't  know  that — I  don't  know  that,"  he  replied. 
He  was  evidently  impressed  by  Trochu's  eloquence 
and  emotion,  and  ready  tear. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Bismarck  refused  to  en- 
ter into  negotiations  with  the  Government  of  the 
National  Defense ;  that  he  would  not  recognize  its 
self -assumed  authority,  and  considered  that  there 
was  no  evidence  that  it  was  recognized  by  the  ma- 
jority of  the  French  people ;  for  there  were  riots  in 
the  great  cities  of  the  South,  and  disturbances  in 
Brittany.  Bismarck  recognized  it  or  not,  as  suited 
his  policy,  and  that  policy  was  exclusively  the  in- 
terests of  Germany.  Had  Trochu  waived  the  food 
question,  Bismarck  would  have  promptly  recognized 


200  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

liim  and  liis  colleagues,  so  far,  at  least,  as  to  make 
an  armistice  with  them,  as  he  afterward  did. 

Bumside  returned  that  aftemoon  to  Versailles.  I 
accompanied  him  as  far  as  Sevres.  Trochu  sent  a 
carriage  for  us.  It  was  odd  to  find  one's  self  in  one 
of  the  old  imperial  barouches,  drawn  by  the  famous 
post-horses  of  the  Emperor.  We  drove  through  the 
Bois  by  Kothschild's  house,  and  so  to  the  broken 
bridge  at  Sevres.  In  the  Bois  desolation  reigned. 
The  trees  were  cut  down  within  three  hundred  yards 
of  the  ramparts,  the  roads  torn  up  and  torpedoes 
planted  in  them.  The  swans  had  gone  to  feed  the 
hungry  soldiers,  and  the  ducks,  to  avoid  the  same 
fate,  kept  wisely  out  in  the  middle  of  the  lake. 
"When  we  had  reached  the  bridge,  a  bugle  sounded 
on  the  French  side,  and  a  white  flag  was  displayed. 
It  was  soon  answered  from  the  German  side,  and  a 
similar  flag  was  raised.  At  once  the  French  troops 
lounged  from  under  cover,  their  hands  in  their  pock- 
ets, and  down  to  the  water's  edge.  The  Prussians 
were  kept  concealed.  They  saw  us,  no  doubt,  but 
not  one  of  them  was  to  be  seen.  Presently,  a  Prus- 
sian ofticer  descended  the  street,  followed  by  a  flag- 
bearer.  He  stalks  across  the  bridge  to  the  broken 
arch,  turns,  takes   the    flag   from    the    bearer,  and 


VIOLATION  OF  PAROLE.  20 1 


plants  the  staff  in  the  bridge,  with  an  air  as  if  to 
say  "  Touch  that,  if  you  dare."  The  French  soldiers 
are  evidently  impressed.  They  mutter,  "  Yoici  des 
militairesy  The  officer  asks  in  French,  "Are  those 
the  American  generals  ?"  "  They  are."  "  Then  let 
them  pass."  Burnside  requests  permission  to  take 
Antoine  with  him,  the  messenger  of  the  Legation. 
"Is  he  an  American?"  "Yes."  "Then  he  can 
come,  of  course."  The  steam-launch  puffs  up,  and 
the  party  cross.  I  cross  with  them,  but  return  at 
once  to  the  French  side.  The  soldiers  disappear, 
the  flag  is  lowered,  and  the  firing  recommences.  I 
have  been  rather  minute  in  this  description,  as  the 
same  ceremonies  were  observed  twice  a  week,  when 
we  sent  and  received  our  dispatch-bags. 

The  German  Government  complained  on  several 
occasions  of  the  violation  of  flags  of  truce.  These 
complaints  were  addressed  to  the  French  authorities 
through  us.  Indeed,  every  communication  address- 
ed to  th^  French  Government  and  its  replies  were 
sent  through  the  Legation.  This  kept  us  busy  even 
during  the  quiet  days  of  the  siege.  The  violation  of 
parole  was  another  fruitful  source  of  correspondence. 
The  Germans  sent  us  a  list  of  over  twenty-five  offi- 
cers, whom  they  alleged  had  broken  their  paroles. 

9^ 


202  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

In  some  cases — that  of  General  Ducrot,  for  instance 
— there  are  two  sides  to  the  question.  He  claimed 
that  it  was  a  legitimate  escape,  and  the  French  press 
was  unanimously  of  his  opinion.  There  was  another 
branch  of  correspondence  that  occupied  a  good  deal 
of  our  time.  The  two  governments,  to  their  credit 
be  it  spoken,  did  not  allow  the  war  to  interfere  with 
the  administration  of  justice.  Under  their  treaties 
each  Government  was  bound  to  serve  upon  its  own 
subjects  all  legal  documents  in  ci\dl  suits  emana- 
ting from  the  courts  of  the  other.  This  was  done 
throughout  the  war,  and  they  all  passed  through  oui* 
hands. 

There  was,  too,  correspondence  between  the  two 
hostile  governments  upon  other  subjects.  Among 
them  I  recollect  one  in  relation  to  the  Francs-Tireurs. 
The  Germans  treated  these  irregulars  as  guerrillas. 
The  French  remonstrated.  The  Germans  answered 
that  they  had  no  uniform  ;  that  they  wore  the  blue 
blouse,  which  is  the  national  dress  of  the  French 
peasant;  and  that  they  ought  to  wear  something 
which  could  be  distinguished  at  rifle  range.  I  do 
not  remember  how  the  matter  was  settled,  but  I  be- 
lieve that  the  Francs-Tireurs  gradually  disappeared, 
absorbed  in  the  Mobiles. 


PERMISSION  TO  LEAVE  PARIS  REFUSED.     203 

Not  long  after  Burnside's  mission  I  paid  a  second 
visit  to  Trochii.  Mr.  Wasliburne  had  applied  to  the 
Germans  for  permission  for  Americans  and  other 
foreigners  to  leave  Paris.  The  King  accorded  it  at 
once.  Any  American  could  leave  on  Mr.  Wash- 
burne's  pass,  any  other  foreigner  on  the  same  pass, 
provided  that  his  name  had  first  been  submitted  to 
and  accepted  by  the  German  authorities.  Having 
obtained  this  concession,  Mr.Washburne  next  applied 
to  the  French  Government  for  its  permission.  To  his 
surprise,  it  was  refused.  He  could  not  understand 
it.  That  the  Germans  should  wish  to  keep  in  the 
city  a  number  of  "  useless  mouths  "  to  help  consume 
the  provision,  was  natural,  but  that  the  French,  who, 
for  the  same  reason,  ought  to  have  wished  to  get  rid 
of  them,  should  refuse  to  let  them  go,  was  inconceiv- 
able. But  Washburne  was  not  the  man  to  sit  down 
quietly  under  a  refusal  in  a  matter  like  this.  He  in- 
sisted that  they  must  go,  and  should  go.  Favre  was 
evidently  on  his  side,  and  we  had  reason  to  believe 
that  he  was  backed  by  some,  at  least,  of  his  colleagues. 
Trochu  opposed  the  departure  for  fear  of  the  effect 
upon  Belleville.  If  I  had  not  heard  him  say  so,  I 
could  not  have  believed  it. 

As  Washbume  insisted,  and  Favre  was  in  favor 


204  CAMP,  CO  CRT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

of  the  permission  being  given,  an  interview  was  ar- 
ranged with  Trochu.  The  "  Governor  of  Paris,"  as 
he  loved  to  call  himself,  made  us  another  oration. 
It  was  very  mucli  a  rehash  of  the  first.  He  then 
stated  that  he  had  been  unwilling  that  the  "  stran- 
gers "  should  leave  Paris ;  it  looked  like  ^'  rats  de- 
serting the  sinking  ship  ;"  he  feared  the  effect  upon 
Belleville.  But  out  of  regard  for  Mr.  "Washbunie, 
and  in  deference  to  the  opinion  of  some  of  his  col- 
leagues, he  would  now  consent.  He  added  that  he 
would  send  an  aid-de-camp  to  Belleville,  to  spread 
the  report  that  it  was  the  diplomatic  corps  leaving 
the  capital.  I  looked  at  him  with  astonishment. 
That  he  should  tell  a  lie  was  bad  enough,  but  that 
he  should  tell  it  out  of  fear  of  that  wretched  mob 
was  a  degree  of  weakness  I  was  not  prepared  for. 

Permission  having  been  given,  no  time  was  lost  in 
the  preparations  for  departure.  On  the  2-^i\\  of  Oc- 
tober, forty -eight  Americans  and  several  Russians 
went  out  by  Creteil.  A  number  of  English  started, 
but  were  turned  back.  Their  names  had  not  been 
sent  to  Versailles  in  season.  Permission  was  subse- 
quently received,  and  they  left  Paris  a  few  days 
later.  We  drove  to  the  French  outposts,  and  thence 
sent  forward   the  flag  with   an   ofticer  of  Trochu's 


GERMAN  SCOUTING.  205 

staff,  and  Mr.  Washburne's  private  secretary,  Mr. 
Albert  Ward,  who  was  charged  with  the  necessary 
arrangements  on  our  side.  While  we  waited,  a  Ger- 
man picket  of  six  men  advanced  toward  us,  dodg- 
ing behind  the  trees,  muskets  cocked,  and  fingers  on 
trigger.  I  confess  I  was  not  much  impressed  with 
this  specimen  of  German  scouting.  It  looked  too 
much  like  playing  at  North  American  Indian. 
There  were  some  twenty  traveling  -  carriages,  open 
and  closed,  filled  with  ladies,  and  piled  up  with  bag- 
gage. The  party  had  as  little  of  a  military  look  as 
can  weU  be  imagined,  and  yet  the  picket  advanced 
as  if  they  feared  an  ambush. 

The  necessary  arrangements  having  been  made, 
we  proceeded  to  the  German  outposts.  Here  the 
Prussian  officers  verified  the  list,  calling  the  roll 
name  by  name,  and  taking  every  precaution  to  iden- 
tify the  individuals.  I  heard  afterward,  however, 
that  a  Frenchman  of  some  prominence  had  escaped 
disguised  as  a  coachman. 

I  met  here  a  young  American,  who  was  living  not 
far  from  Versailles,  and  who  was  known  to  Count 
Bismarck.  I  gave  him  a  couple  of  morning  papers. 
That  evening  he  dined  with  Bismarck,  and  offered 
to  sell  him  the  papers  for  a  quart  bottle  of  Cham- 


2o6  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

pagne  for  the  big  one,  and  a  pint  bottle  for  the  lit- 
tle one.  Bismarck  offered  a  quart  bottle  for  both ; 
but  mj  American  indignantly  rejected  the  terms: 
so  Bismarck  accepted  his,  and  paid  the  bottle  and  a 
half.  I  record  this  as  perhaps  the  only  diplomatic 
triumph  ever  scored  against  Count  de  Bismarck. 


MOB  SEIZE  hOTEL  DE   VILLE.  207 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

Mob  seize  Hotel  de  Yille.  —  "Thanksgiving"  in  Paris.  —  Prices  of 
Food. — Paris  Rats. — Menagerie  Meat. — Horse-meat. — Eatable  only 
as  MiQce.  —  Government  Interference.  —  Sorties. — Are  Failures. — 
Le  Bourget  taken  by  French.  —  Retaken  by  Prussians.  —  French 
Naval  Officers. — Belleville  National  Guard. — Their  Poetry. — Blun- 
dering.— Sheridan's  Opinion  of  German  Army. 

Late  in  October,  M.  Thiers  came  into  Paris  on  a 
peace  mission,  but  met  with  no  success.  He  brought 
the  news  of  the  fall  of  Metz.  There  was  great  ex- 
citement in  Paris.  The  mob  collected,  marched  to 
the  Hotel  de  Yille,  and  took  possession.  They  ar- 
rested several  members  of  the  Government,  and  shut 
them  up — others  escaped.  They  then  proceeded  to 
depose  the  Government,  and  to  set  up  one  of  their 
own.  Ducrot  begged  Trochu  to  let  him  fire  on  the 
mob ;  he  could  disperse  them,  he  said,  in  five  min- 
utes. The  Mobiles  were  eager  to  fire;  for  the  Mo- 
biles and  the  National  Guard  lived  like  cat  and  dog 
together.  Trochu  would  not  consent.  The  insur- 
gents remained  in  possession  of  the  Hotel  de  Yille 
all  that  night,  and  the  next  day  gradually  melted 


2o8  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

away.  It  was  one  of  those  unfortunate  mob  tri- 
umphs which  contributed  not  a  little  to  tlie  success 
of  the  Commune. 

The  sie^e  found  about  two  liundred  Americans 
in  Paris.  I  ought  to  say  "  citizens  of  the  United 
States ;"  but  we  have  taken  to  ourselves  the  broader 
title,  and  in  Europe  it  is  generally  accorded  to  us. 
Of  these  two  hundred  about  fifty  went  away,  and 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  remained.  The  French 
live  from  hand  to  mouth,  buying  only  what  is  nec- 
essary for  the  day,  and  laying  no  stores  in.  This 
comes,  I  think,  from  their  system  of  living  in  apart- 
ments, and  the  want  of  store-rooms.  The  Americans, 
as  a  rule,  laid  in  a  stock  of  provisions.  The  grocers 
of  Paris  had  imported  a  large  quantity  of  canned 
food  for  the  use  of  the  colonie  americaine,  which  was 
then,  and  still  is,  a  power  in  Paris.  The  greater  part 
of  the  colonie  having  gone,  there  remained  a  quantity 
of  canned  vegetables,  fruit,  deviled  ham  and  turkey, 
oysters,  lobsters,  etc.,  etc.,  and,  above  all,  hominy  and 
grits.  The  French  knew  nothing  of  these  eatables 
till  late  in  the  siege,  when  they  discovered  their  mer- 
its. In  the  mean  time  the  Americans  had  bouglit 
up  nearly  all  there  was  on  hand. 

As  Thanksgiving  approached  we  determined  to 


PRICES  OF  FOOD.  209 

celebrate  it,  notwitlistanding  our  supposed  forlorn 
condition.  Some  thirty  of  us  met  at  a  restaurant  on 
the  Boulevard,  where  we  feasted  on  the  traditional 
turkey,  or,  rather,  on  two  of  them,  at  twelve  dollars 
apiece.  Under  the  circumstances,  we  had  quite  an 
Epicurean  repast.  Mr.  Washburne  presided,  and 
made  a  humorous  speech,  dwelling  provokingly  on 
the  good  things  our  unbesieged  countrymen  were 
then  enjoying  at  home.  Professor  Shepherd,  of 
Chicago,  was  present,  and  made  some  clever  and  ap- 
propriate remarks.  The  Professor  has  written  one 
of  the  most  readable  and  reliable  books  upon  the 
siege  I  have  met  with. 

Prices  of  food  in  Paris  had  now  reached  their 
height.  Turkeys,  as  I  have  said,  sold  at  $12  apiece, 
chickens  at  $6,  cats  $1.60,  rats  15  cents,  dogs  from 
80  cents  up,  according  to  size  and  fat.  There  was  a 
refinement  in  rats.  They  were  known  as  the  brew- 
ery rat  and  the  sewer  rat.  The  brewery  rat  was 
naturally  the  most  delicate  titbit,  and  as  the  siege 
progressed  and  but  little  food  found  its  way  into  the 
sewers,  the  sewer  rats  diminished  wofully  in  num- 
bers, while  their  brethren  of  the  brewery  increased. 
I  know  of  no  better  evidence  of  the  severity  of  the 
cold,  and  the  scarcity  of  food  during  that  winter, 


2IO  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

than  an  incident  that  came  under  my  own  observa- 
tion. I  was  called  by  the  concierge  of  the  building 
to  look  at  the  apartment  of  an  American  gentleman, 
on  the  floor  below  me.  The  rats  had  made  their 
way  with  great  gymnastic  agility  into  the  kitchen ; 
they  had  thrown  down  and  broken  two  or  three 
dishes  which  the  cook  had  imperfectly  washed,  and 
on  which  there  remained  a  little  grease.  They  had 
then  made  their  way  into  the  salons  and  bedrooms, 
had  gnawed  and  burrowed  into  the  sofas  and  mat- 
tresses, and  there  several  lay,  dead  of  cold  and 
hunger. 

But  there  was  no  time  in  Paris  when  money 
would  not  buy  good  food,  though  it  could  not  buy 
fuel,  for  that  had  been  seized  by  the  Government. 
Very  late  in  the  siege  a  man  brought  to  the  Lega- 
tion a  piece  oi  filet  de  hoeuf  oi  six  pounds,  for  which 
he  asked  four  dollars  a  pound.  Mr.  Washburne  and 
I  did  not  indulge  in  such  luxuries,  living  principal- 
ly upon  our  national  pork  and  beans,  and  the  poetic 
fish-ball.  A  young  American  happened  to  be  in  the 
office,  however,  who  took  it  at  once,  and  paid  his 
twenty-four  dollars. 

In  the  suburbs  of  Paris  food  was  more  abundant. 
I  breakfasted  in  December  with  a  French  general, 


FRENCH  ARMY  BREAKFASTS.  21 1 

wlio  commanded  one  of  the  ontposts.  We  had  beef, 
eggs,  ham,  etc.,  and,  from  what  I  heard,  I  should  say 
that  he  and  his  staff  breakfasted  as  well  every  day. 
These  noonday  breakfasts,  by- the -way,  ruined  the 
French  army.  I  reached  my  general's  head-quarters 
at  half -past  eleven.  He  and  one  of  his  staff  were 
smoking  cigars  and  drinking  absinthe.  At  twelve 
we  breakfasted  bountifully,  as  I  have  said,  and  with 
Champagne  and  other  wines,  followed  by  coffee, 
brandy,  and  more  cigars.  We  got  through  break- 
fast about  three  o'clock.  This  was  on  an  outpost, 
in  presence  of  the  enemy.  Had  he  attacked,  what 
would  the  general  and  his  staff  have  been  worth? 
They  were  very  far  from  being  intoxicated,  but  cer- 
tainly their  heads  were  not  clear,  or  their  judgments 
sound. 

The  Prussians  soon  learned  the  French  habits,  and 
attacked  them  in  the  field  when  they  were  making 
their  soup.  The  French  soldiers  could  not  catch  up 
their  soup  and  pocket  it,  and  eat  it  at  their  leisure. 
They  consequently  lost  not  only  their  breakfasts, 
but  frequently  their  cooking  utensils  too.  The  Ger- 
mans, on  the  other  hand,  had  a  liberal  ration  of  meat 
{fleisch  —  what  a  disagreeable  word  !)  —  one  pound 
and  a  half  per  diem.     But,  meat  failing,  they  always 


CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 


liad  a  German  sausage  and  a  piece  of  bread  in  their 
haversacks,  and  could  eat  as  they  marched.  Yet 
such  is  the  power  of  habit  in  France,  and  the 
strength  of  tradition,  that  I  suppose  the  French  sol- 
dier will  continue  to  all  time  to  prepare  his  soup, 
even  at  the  expense  of  defeat. 

Without  stirring  from  Paris,  I  had  the  opportu- 
nity during  the  siege  to  taste  as  many  varieties  of 
wild  meat  as  the  greatest  of  travelers — as  Humboldt 
himself.  It  was  found  to  be  impossible  to  procure 
food  for  the  animals  at  the  Jardin  d'Acchmatation, 
and  they  were  sold  and  killed.  They  were  bought 
mostly  by  the  enterprising  English  butcher  of  the 
Avenue  Friedland.  I  indulged  from  time  to  time 
in  small  portions  of  elephant,  yak,  camel,  reindeer, 
porcupine,  etc.,  at  an  average  rate  of  four  dollars 
a  pound.  Of  all  these,  reindeer  is  the  best ;  it 
has  a  fine  flavor  of  venison.  Elephant  is  tolera- 
bly good.  Some  of  my  readers  may  remember  the 
charming  twin  elephants,  Castor  and  Pollux,  who 
carried  children  round  the  Garden  on  their  backs, 
in  18G7  to  1869.  They  were  done  to  death  with 
chassepots — shot  through  the  head.  I  eat  a  slice  of 
Castor.  It  was  tolerably  good  only ;  did  very  well 
in  time  of  siege.     But  all  these  meats  arc  but  poor 


HORSE -MEAT.  213 


substitutes  for  beef  and  mutton ;  and  when  travelers 
tell  us  of  the  delights  of  elephant's  trunk  or  buffa- 
lo's hump,  depend  upon  it,  it  is  the  hunter's  appetite 
that  gives  the  flavor. 

The  main -stay  of  the  population,  in  the  way  of 
fresh  meat,  was  horse.  These  were  requisitioned, 
and  every  horseholder  having  more  than  one  was 
compelled  to  contribute  toward  feeding  the  popula- 
tion. The  horses  were  liberally  paid  for,  so  much 
per  pound.  Some  individuals  made  a  very  good 
thing  out  of  it.  They  got  in  with  the  horse  officials. 
A  fine  animal,  requisitioned  from  the  owner,  who 
knew  no  better  than  to  send  it,  appeared  at  the 
shambles.  One  of  these  gentry,  with  the  conniv- 
ance of  the  official  in  charge,  would  take  him,  and 
substitute  an  old  screw  of  equal  or  greater  weight. 
I  know  an  American  in  Paris  who  is  daily  aggra- 
vated by  seeing  at  the  Bois  a  beautiful  m.are  he  once 
owned,  and  whose  loss  he  had  deeply  deplored,  but 
had  been  comforted  by  the  reflection  that  she  had 
perished  to  feed  the  starving  Parisians. 

The  horse -meat  was  rationed  and  sold  by  the 
Government  at  reasonable  prices :  nine  ounces  and 
a  half  were  allowed  per  diem  to  each  adult.  There 
is  a  refinement  in  horse-meat,  as  in  rats.     A  young 


214  CAJ/P,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


light-gi-aj  is  tender  and  juicy.  Black  is  the  worst 
color ;  the  meat  is  coarse  and  tough.  But  horse- 
flesh is  poor  stufE  at  best.  It  has  a  sweet,  sickening 
flavor.  Some  people  spoke  highly  of  it  as  soup ; 
others  when  marine.  The  only  way  I  found  it  eat- 
able was  as  mince  mixed  with  potato. 

From  horse-meat  to  beef  is  but  a  slight  transition, 
but  one  more  easily  made  on  paper  than  on  the  ta- 
ble in  those  days.  The  interference  of  the  French 
Government  in  almost  every  detail  of  private  life 
is  something  of  which  happily  we  know  nothing  in 
this  country.  You  can  not  cut  down  a  tree  on  your 
own  land  without  its  permission.  During  the  siege 
you  could  not  kill  your  own  ox  without  leave  from 
the  Minister  of  Commerce.  If  you  had  providently 
laid  in  a  larger  supply  of  fuel  than  he  thought  you 
needed,  he  took  possession  of  it,  and  paid  you  Gov- 
ernment prices  for  what  was  then  almost  priceless. 
An  American  lady  resident  in  Paris  had  a  cow. 
The  cow  ran  dry,  and  she  wanted  to  convert  it  into 
beef.  She  came  to  the  Legation  to  secure  Mr. 
Washburne's  intervention  to  obtain  for  her  permis- 
sion to  kill  her  own  cow.  At  first  it  was  refused, 
and  it  required  no  inconsiderable  amount  of  diplo- 
matic correspondence  and  the  waste  of  many  pages 


SORTIES.  215 


of  good  foolscap,  with  a  large  expenditure  of  red 
tape  and  sealing-wax,  before  tlie  permission  was  ob- 
tained. 

I  have  said  very  little  of  the  sorties  from  Paris. 
The  subject  is  not  a  pleasant  one.  There  were  five 
hundred  thousand  armed  men  in  Paris,  and  only 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  outside.  Yet  but 
one  serious  sortie  was  ever  made.  This  was  to  the 
south-east,  under  Ducrot ;  and  the  fighting  was  ob- 
stinate, and  lasted  two  days.  Ducrot  had  published 
a  proclamation  to  the  effect  that  he  should  come 
back  victorious,  or  be  brought  back  dead.  He  was 
defeated,  but  marched  quietly  back  nevertheless. 
We  are  unaccustomed  among  Anglo-Saxons  to  this 
style  of  proclamation,  and  call  it  bombast.  I  am 
told,  however,  by  those  better  acquainted  with  the 
French  character  than  I  am,  that  it  has  its  effect 
upon  the  French  soldier,  and  is  therefore  allowable. 

The  garrison  of  Paris  should  have  made  a  sortie 
every  night,  sometimes  a  thousand  men,  and  some- 
times a  hundred  thousand,  and  in  two  or  three  quar- 
ters at  once.  Their  central  position  gave  them  ev- 
ery opportunity  to  do  this  to  advantage.  Had  they 
done  so,  they  would  soon  have  worn  out  the  Ger- 
mans with  constant  alertes,  and   with   comparative- 


2i6  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

\j  little  fatigue  to  themselves.  But  this,  too,  was 
mismanaged.  Thej  surprised  and  took  Le  Bourget, 
a  little  village  to  the  north-east.  Of  course  we  all 
supposed  that  it  would  be  strongly  garrisoned,  and 
the  garrison  well  supported.  Not  at  all.  Two  days 
later  the  Prussians  retook  it.  The  garrison  made  a 
most  gallant  defense,  but  they  were  entirely  unsup- 
ported. Not  a  regiment  of  the  immense  army  in 
Paris  came  to  their  assistance.  No  possible  excuse 
can  be  given  for  this  abandonment. 

The  loss  of  Le  Bourget  produced  great  discontent 
among  the  Parisians ;  and  Trochu  was  blamed,  and 
most  justly.  He  made  an  effort  to  retake  it,  but  in 
vain.  The  sailors,  under  their  gallant  officers,  made 
a  spirited  assault,  but  were  repulsed  with  great  loss ; 
for  they  were  not  supported  by  the  soldiers.  The 
officers  made  every  effort  to  lead  them  on,  but  they 
would  not  assault. 

The  French  naval  officers  are  a  very  superior  class 
of  men.  They  compare  most  favorably  with  those 
of  any  other  nation.  They  are  painstaking,  intelli- 
gent, and  well-informed.  Under  their  command  the 
sailors  fought  gallantly  during  the  war,  for  there 
was  a  large  number  of  them  detailed  to  the  army, 
as  they  had  little  to  do  at  sea.     They  felt  strongly 


BL  UXDERING.  2 1 7 


the  deterioration  of  their  sister  service,  the  army. 
At  Versailles  I  was  once  dining  at  a  restaurant  near 
a  naval  officer.  An  army  officer,  accompanied  by 
two  non-commissioned  officers,  entered,  called  loud- 
ly for  dinner,  and  made  a  great  disturbance.  They 
were  evidently  the  worse  for  liquor.  I  overheard 
the  naval  officer  muttering  to  himself, '' Cette  pcmvre 
ar7nee  frangaise  !  cettepauvre  armee  franqaise  P'' 

There  was  always  blundering.  They  had  shut  up 
a  brigade  of  cavalry  in  Paris.  Jerome  Bonaparte, 
who  commanded  one  of  the  regiments,  told  me  he 
had  no  idea  why  he  was  ordered  in,  unless  it  was  to 
eat  up  his  horses.  This  they  proceeded  to  do  so  soon 
as  they  were  fairly  trained,  and  so  doubled  in  value. 
Trochu  organized  a  sortie  to  the  north-west.  Two 
columns  left  Paris  one  night  by  different  gates,  and 
were  to  take  up  their  positions  simultaneously  and 
attack  at  daylight.  He  foi-got  that  one  road  crossed 
the  other,  and  that  one  column  must  necessarily  halt 
for  the  other  to  pass.  Of  course  one  of  them  ar- 
rived late  on  the  ground,  and  the  attack  failed. 
When  a  sortie  was  to  be  made,  a  flag  was  hoisted  on 
Mount  Yalerien.  The  Germans  soon  knew  its  mean- 
ing as  well  as  the  French,  and  prepared  accordingly. 
An  intended  sortie  was  known  at  least  twenty-four 

10 


2l8  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

hours  before  it  took  place,  and  its  chances  discussed 
on  the  boulevards.  The  JS^ational  Guard,  too,  with 
some  honorable  exceptions,  would  not  fight.  The 
heroes  of  Belleville  howled  to  be  led  against  the  en- 
emy. They  got  as  far  as  the  barriers,  and  refused 
to  go  farther.  "  They  were  enlisted  to  defend  Paris, 
and  they  would  not  go  beyond  the  enceinte  j  the 
Reactionists  wanted  to  get  them  out,  that  they  might 
deliver  Paris  over  to  the  enemy."  There  was  a  pop- 
ular song  they  simg  as  they  marched  through  the 
streets  which  perfectly  illustrates  their  sentiments 
and  character : 

"  Xous  partons, 

ons,  ons, 
Comme  des  moutons, 
Comme  des  moutons, 
Pour  la  boucherie, 

rie,  rie. 

"  On  nous  massacra, 

ra,  ra, 
Comme  des  rats, 
Comme  des  rats. 
Comme  Bismarck  rira ! 

rira !" 

An  officer  commanding  a  fort  applied  for  re-en- 
forcements to  relieve  his  exhausted  men.  They 
sent  him  a  battalion  of  our  Belleville  gentlemen. 
The  next  day  he  sent  them  back,  saying  they  had 


BL  UND  BRING.  2 1 9 


been  drunk  and  fought  in  the  trenches  all  night,  and 
that  he  preferred  to  get  along  as  well  as  he  could 
with  his  overworked  garrison. 

Trochu  planned  a  sortie  to  the  south-east.     It  was 
necessary  to  cross  the  Marne.     The  troops  arrived 
at  the  appointed  hour,  but  the  pontoons  did  not.     A 
whole  day  was  lost,  and  the  sortie  was  %Lne  affaire 
manq^uee.    Outside,  things  were  nearly  as  badly  man- 
aged.    ^"0  serious  effort  was  ever  made  to  cut  the 
German  lines  of  communication.     The  railways  to 
the  east  were  all-important  to  them,  not  so  much  for 
provisions  (for  they  drew  these  mostly  from  France), 
but  for  ammunition.     With  the  enormous  guns  in 
use,  the  transportation  of  ammunition  was  a  serious 
matter,  taxing  the  railroad  facilities  of  the  Germans 
to  the  uttermost.     An  interruption  might  have  com- 
pelled them  to  raise  the  siege.     Sheridan,  who,  be- 
ing at  the  King's  head-quarters,  and  treated  with  the 
greatest   kindness   and    attention,  naturally  sympa- 
thized with  the  Germans,  could  not  help  exclaiming 
that  if  he  had  been  outside  with  thirty  thousand  cav- 
alry, he  would  have  made  the  King  *  *  *     Well  it 
is  not  worth  while  to  quote  Sheridan's  exact  words; 
they  were  a  little  in  the  style  of  the  commander  of 
the  Imperial  Guard  at  Waterloo;  but  the  substance 


CAMP,  COURT,  A-XD  SIEGE. 


of  them  was,  that  an  active  officer  with  a  good  cav- 
alry force  could  have  so  broken  up  the  communi- 
cations of  the  German  army  as  to  compel  it  to 
raise  the  siege.  For  the  Germans  are  not  particular- 
ly handy  at  repairing  a  broken  road  or  bridge ;  and  a 
German  general  does  not,  as  the  rebel  soldier  said  of 
Sherman,  carry  a  duplicate  tunnel  in  his  pocket. 

As  I  am  quoting  Sheridan,  let  me  here  record  his 
opinion  of  the  German  army.  lie  helieved  that  they 
were  brave  soldiers.  They  were  well  disciplined, 
well  led,  and  had  every  appearance  of  thorough  sol- 
diers ;  but  he  could  not  say  so  positively,  for,  so  far 
as  his  observation  went,  they  had  never  met  with 
any  serious  resistance.  He  looked  upon  the  German 
army  as  in  no  respect  superior  to  one  of  our  great 
armies  at  the  close  of  the  war — the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  for  instance — except  as  regards  the  staff. 
That  was  far  superior  to  ours,  and  to  any  staff  in  Eu- 
rope. Their  field  telegraph,  too,  excited  his  admira- 
tion.    It  had  been  borrowed  from  us,  but  improved. 


NATIOJ\^AL    GUARD.  221 


CHAPTEE  XYIII. 

The  National  Guard.— Its  Composition.— The  American  Ambulance. 
—Its  Organization.— Its  Success.— Dr.  Swinburne,  Chief  Surgeon. 
— The  Tent  System.— Small  Mortahty. — Poor  Germans  m  Paris. — 
Bombardment  by  Germans.- Wantonness  of  Artillery-men.- Bad 
News  from  the  Loire.—"  Le  Plan  Trochu."— St.  Genevieve  to  ap- 
pear.—Yinoy  takes  Command.— Paris  surrenders.- Bourbaki  de- 
feated.— Attempts  Suicide. 

A  GEOTLEMAi^  of  rank  and  great  historic  name,  of 
approved  bravery,  and  who  had  seen  service  as  an 
officer  in  the  French  army,  came  one  day  to  the 
Legation  in  the  uniform  of  a  private.  I  asked  him 
why  he  had  enlisted,  when  he  could  so  easily  have 
got  a  commission.  He  replied  that  it  was  true  he 
could  easily  have  got  a  company  in  the  National 
Guard,  but  before  he  could  know  his  men,  and  they 
could  know  him,  and  he  could  drill  and  discipline 
them,  they  would  go  into  action.  Then  they  would 
inevitably  run  away.  If  he  ran  with  them,  he  would 
be  held  responsible ;  if  he  stood,  he  would  be  killed. 
So  he  had  decided  to  enlist  as  a  private,  to  stand  as 
long  as  the  rest  stood,  and  to  run  away  when  they 


CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


ran.  It  struck  me  that  this  gentleman  was  wise  in 
his  generation,  but  that  it  was  not  precisely  in  this 
way  that  France  was  to  be  saved. 

In  speaking  of  the  National  Guard  as  I  have  done, 
it  is  proper  to  state  that  I  speak  of  the  masses,  the 
workmen  of  Paris,  and  \h^])etiU  'bourgeoisie  of  most 
of  the  arrondissements.  There  were  some  few  bat- 
talions that  could  be  relied  upon,  some  composed  in 
part  of  the  "  gentlemen  of  France ;"  but  they  were 
insufficient  to  leaven  the  whole  lump.  The  masses, 
those  who  drew. a  franc  and  a  half  per  diem  for 
themselves,  and  seventy-five  centimes  for  their  wives, 
or  for  the  women  who  lived  with  them — for  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  ^N'ational  Defense  had  decided  that 
it  was  the  same  thing — were  the  turbulent,  unruly, 
unsoldierly  mob  I  have  described. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  satisfactory  feat- 
ures of  the  siege  was  the  American  ambulance. 
Here  were  order,  system,  and  discipline.  It  was  lo- 
cated on  vacant  lots  in  the  Avenue  de  I'Imperatrice. 
It  did  better  work  than  any  other  ambulance  in 
Paris ;  and  there  were  many  of  them.  A  number  of 
the  wealthy  people  of  the  city  gave  up  their  hotels, 
or  parts  of  them,  for  this  purpose.  The  Press  organ- 
ized an  admirable  ambulance,  copied  as  much  from 


AMERICAN  AMBULANCE.  223 


the  American  as  circumstances  would  permit.  The 
Italians  started  one,  and  two  or  three  other  national- 
ities. But  the  American  ambulance  was  the  only 
one  organized  upon  the  tent  system,  which  is  un- 
questionably the  true  one.  Fresh  air  and  fresh  wa- 
ter are  what  is  needed  for  the  wounded.  It  is  im- 
possible to  get  fresh  air  in  a  building,  as  you  get  it 
in  a  tent.  As  Dr.  Swinburne  expressed  it,  "  The  air 
filters  through  the  canvas." 

At  the  Exposition  of  1867  we  had  a  remarkably 
good  exhibition  of  our  ambulance  system.  It  was 
due  to  the  energy  and  liberality  of  Dr.  Evans.  At 
the  close  of  the  exhibition  he  bought  the  whole  col- 
lection ;  and  when  the  war  broke  out,  he  organized 
an  ambulance  association,  presented  it  with  this  mate- 
rial, and  gave  it  ten  thousand  francs.  Other  Ameri- 
cans contributed,  and  the  enterprise  was  launched. 
Dr.  Swinburne,  a  distinguished  corps  surgeon  of  our 
army,  and  afterward  Quarantine  Officer  at  Staten 
Island,  happened  to  be  in  Paris,  traveling  for  his 
health  and  amusement.  He  gave  up  his  trip,  and 
staid  in  the  city,  that  he  might  be  of  service  to  the 
wounded  French.  He  deserves  much  credit  for  his 
humanity.  Dr.  Johnson,  a  prominent  American  phy- 
sician in  Paris,  took  charge  of  the  medical  depart- 


2  24  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

ment.  Both  of  tliese  gentlemen  discharged  their 
duties  with  devotion  and  skill,  and  with  remarkable 
success,  and  without  remuneration,  except  that  they 
were  decorated  by  the  French  Government.  For  an 
American  residing  at  home  a  decoration  is  of  very 
little  account.  In  France  it  is  useful.  It  procures 
him  attention  on  the  railways  and  at  the  restaurants. 
But  it  has  been  very  much  abused  of  late  years. 
There  are  about  one  hundi'ed  thousand  decores  in 
France,  so  that  they  now  say  it  is  the  correct  thing 
not  to  be  decorated.  I  never  heard  of  but  one  indi- 
vidual, however,  who  refused  it,  and  that  was  from 
political  motives. 

A  number  of  American  ladies  and  gentlemen  who 
remained  in  Paris  offered  their  services  in  the  ambu- 
lance, and  were  enrolled  as  volunteer  nurses.  Among 
them  Mr.  Joseph  K.  Riggs  was  particularly  conspic- 
uous by  his  skill  and  devotion.  They  went  upon  the 
field  after,  or  even  during,  an  engagement  and  pick- 
ed up  the  wounded.  Indeed,  there  was  quite  a  con- 
test among  the  ambulances  to  get  possession  of  the 
wounded ;  for  while  the  number  of  the  sick  in  Paris 
was  very  great,  that  of  the  wounded  was  compara- 
tively small.  The  medical  director  of  General  Du- 
crot's  corps  became  much  interested  in  our  ambu- 


AMERICAN  AMBULANCE.  225 

lance.  He  turned  over  to  Dr.  Swinburne  the  charm- 
ing house  of  M.  Chevalier,  the  eminent  French 
writer  on  political  economy,  and  then  begged  him 
to  take  charge  of  the  wounded  of  his  corps.  Swin- 
burne used  the  house  as  a  convalescent  hospital  when 
his  tents  were  full. 

So  successful  was  his  treatment  that  of  the  ampu- 
tated only  one  in  five  died ;  while  at  the  great  French 
ambulance  of  the  Grand  Hotel  four  in  five  died. 
The  mortality  there  was  fearful. 

The  apparatus  for  warming  the  tents  was  simple, 
but  most  effective.  It  had  grown  up  among  our 
soldiers  during  the  war.  A  hole  was  made  in  the 
ground  outside  of  one  end  of  a  long  tent,  a  stove 
placed  in  it,  and  the  pipe  carried  the  whole  length 
of  the  tent  in  a  trench.  The  result  was  that  the 
ground  was  thoroughly  dried  and  warmed,  and  this 
warmed  the  whole  tent.  I  have  known  the  ther- 
mometer outside  to  be  at  20°  Fahrenheit,  while  in 
the  tents  it  stood  at  55°.  The  doctor  said  that  for 
wounded  men  well  covered  up  in  bed  55°  was  bet- 
ter than  70°. 

The  men  were  well  fed,  and  admirably  cared  for 
generally.  The  French  Government  put  the  best 
of  their  stores  at  the  disposition  of  the  ambulances, 

10* 


2  26  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

and  treated  tliem  with  the  greatest  liberality.  There 
was  always  plenty  of  canned  fruit,  jellies,  etc.,  in 
Paris,  so  valuable  in  sickness.  The  ladies  bought 
these,  and  brought  tlieni  to  the  wounded.  Tobacco 
was  provided  in  the  same  way  for  the  convalescents. 

The  American  ambulance  was  soon  so  well  and  so 
favorably  known,  that  I  heard  of  French  officers  who 
put  cards  in  their  pocket-books,  on  which  they  had 
written  the  request  that  if  they  were  wounded  they 
might  be  carried  to  Vamlulance  americaine. 

The  great  drawback  we  had  to  contend  with 
was  the  impossibility  of  procuring  new  tents.  Dr. 
Swinburne  told  me  that  at  home  they  would  have 
been  condemned  after  a  month's  use,  and  new  ones 
substituted.  But  in  Europe  the  cloth  is  not  to  be 
had.  "We  use  cotton  cloth,  the  French  use  linen. 
Cotton  is  lighter,  is  more  porous  in  dry  and  fulls  in 
wet  weather.  The  result  is  that  the  air  filters 
through  it  in  the  one  case,  and  the  water  does  not 
penetrate  it  in  the  other.  In  the  absence  of  new 
canvas,  the  doctor  thoroughly  fumigated  the  old 
from  time  to  time.  This  answered  the  purpose  tol- 
erably well,  but  did  not  exhibit  the  tent  system  in 
its  perfection. 

We  had  now  reached  the  middle  of  January,  and 


POOR   GERMANS,  227 


the  end  of  the  siege  was  rapidly  approaching.  The 
want  of  proper  food,  especially  for  young  children, 
was  producing  its  necessary  results ;  and  the  death- 
rate  had  risen  from  about  eight  hundred — which  is 
the  average  number  of  weekly  deaths  in  Paris — to 
four  thousand,  and  this  without  counting  those  in  hos- 
pital which  may  be  set  down  at  one  thousand  more. 
The  number  of  poor  Germans  supported  by  the  Lega- 
tion had  also  increased  very  greatly,  and  had  risen  to 
twenty-four  hundred.  We  were  compelled  to  hire 
another  room,  where  the  weekly  allowance  made 
them  was  paid  and  duly  entered  in  books  kept  for 
this  purpose ;  for  every  penny  expended  was  regu- 
larly entered  and  vouched  for.  The  poor  German 
women  were  obliged  to  walk  two  or  three  miles  on 
those  cold  winter  days ;  for  the  workmen's  quarter  is 
far  from  that  of  the  Champs  Elysees.  Mr.  Wash- 
burne  pitied  these  poor  creatures,  and  gave  them  om- 
nibus tickets  for  the  return  trip.  He  bought  a  cask 
of  mn  ordinaire^  too,  and  gave  a  glass  of  warm 
sweetened  wine  to  each  of  them.  It  did  them  infi- 
nite good. 

Provisions  were  now  running  short;  enough  re- 
mained for  a  few  days  only.  Even  in  this  most 
vital  matter  there  was  blundering.     A  gentleman 


228  CAM1\   COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

liigli  placed  in  the  ofliee  of  the  Minister  of  Com- 
merce, the  minister e  which  had  charge  of  the  sup- 
plies, told  Mr.  Washburne  that  there  were  provisions 
in  Paris  to  last  till  March.  We  could  hardly  credit 
it,  but  it  came  to  us  from  such  high  authority  that 
we  were  staggered.  He  spoke  positively,  and  said 
he  had  seen  the  figures.  After  the  surrender  this 
gentleman  met  a  mutual  friend,  and  said,  ''I  am 
afraid  your  minister  must  take  me  for  either  a  liar 
or  a  fool.  I  hope  I  am  neither.  The  mistake  we 
made  at  the  ministere  happened  in  this  way:  the 
minister  appointed  two  officers ;  each  was  to  take  an 
account  of  all  the  food  in  Paris,  in  order  that  one 
account  might  control  the  other.  "When  their 'state- 
ments came  in,  he  added  them  together,  but  forgot 
to  divide  them  by  two." 

Meantime  we  were  being  bombarded,  but  after  a 
very  mild  fashion.  I  have  since  talked  with  a  Ger- 
man general  who  commanded  at  the  quarter  whence 
most  of  the  shells  entered  the  city.  He  assured  me 
that  there  never  was  the  slightest  intention  to  bom- 
bard Paris.  If  there  had  been,  it  would  have  been 
done  in  a  very  different  style.  The  German  batter- 
ies fired  from  a  height  upon  a  fort  in  the  hollow, 
and  their  shells,  flying  high,  entered  Paris.     Still, 


BOMBARDMENT.  229 


when  nearly  two  liiindred  lives  were  lost,  and  shells 
fell  among  us  for  nineteen  days,  people  had  a  right  to 
say  that  they  were  bombarded,  and  no  Parisian  will 
admit  to  this  day  that  they  were  not.  Artillery-men 
of  all  nations  become  not  only  very  careless,  but 
very  wanton.  The  Germans  were  eager  to  hit  some- 
thing, and  the  public  buildings  of  the  Latin  Quarter 
offered  a  tempting  mark  to  the  gunners.  I  was  com- 
plaining to  a  French  officer  one  day  of  the  shameful 
manner  in  which  the  French  Government  troops  dur- 
ing the  Commune  bombarded  the  quarter  of  the 
Champs  Elysees,  a  quarter  inhabited  almost  exclu- 
sively by  friends  of  the  Government,  who  were  long- 
ing for  the  troops  to  come  in.  He  told  me  that  it 
was  due  to  the  wantonness  of  the  artillery -men,  and 
cited  an  instance  which  came  under  his  own  observa- 
tion. A  gunner  at  Mount  Yalerien  pointed  out  to 
the  captain  of  the  gun  a  cart  making  its  slow  way 
through  the  distant  plain  toward  Paris,  and  exclaim- 
ed, "  O,  my  officer !  see  that  cart  carrying  supplies 
to  the  enemy."  "  Where,  where  ?"  "  There,  near 
that  white  house."  ''  Give  it  a  shell."  He  fired, 
missed  half  a  dozen  times,  but  finally  hit.  It  turned 
out  to  be  the  cart  of  a  poor  washer-woman,  carrying 
the  week's  wash  to  her  customers. 


CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 


A  few  days  before  the  surrender  bad  news  came 
tliick  and  fast.  A  sortie  in  the  direction  of  Mount 
Yalerien  had  been  repulsed.  Chanzy  had  been  de- 
feated. All  hope  of  aid  from  that  quarter  had  van- 
ished, and  but  a  few  days'  provisions  remained. 
Will  it  be  believed  that  even  then  Trochu  "  paltered 
in  a  double  sense"  with  the  suffering  people?  He 
published  a  proclamation  in  which  he  said  the  "  Gov- 
ernor of  Paris  would  never  surrender."  The  next 
day  he  resigned,  and  appointed  no  successor.  When, 
three  days  later,  the  city  surrendered  there  was  no 
Governor  of  Paris. 

But  even  to  the  last  moment  there  were  people 
who  had  confidence  in  Trocluvs  proclamation.  The 
Parisians  are  credulous,  and  readily  believe  what 
they  wish  to  believe.  Among  the  populace  there 
was  always  a  sort  of  half  belief  in  the  "  Plan  Tro- 
chu," which,  as  he  often  told  us,  when  all  else  failed, 
was  to  save  France.  This  plan  he  kept  mysteriously 
to  himself,  or  confided  it  only  to  a  few  bosom-friends. 
But  I  had  it  from  a  source  I  thought  entitled  to  be- 
lief, that  Trochu  confidently  anticipated  a  miracle  in 
his  favor  in  return  for  his  devotion.  St.  Genevieve 
was  to  appear  and  save  Paris.  It  is  almost  impossi- 
ble to  believe  that,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  in 


VINOY  TAKES   COMMAND.  23 1 

that  skeptical  capital,  a  man  of  intelligence,  cultiva- 
tion, and  varied  experience,  could  be  found  who  be- 
lieved in  a  miraculous  appearance  of  the  saint ;  but 
Trochu  was  a  strange  compound  of  learning,  ability, 
weakness,  and  fanaticism,  and  I  have  little  doubt 
that  he  confidently  anticipated  the  personal  inter- 
vention of  St.  Genevieve  to  save  her  beloved  city. 

On  the  2'ith  of  January,  Yinoy  took  command. 
He  suppressed  the  clubs,  seized  the  violent  press, 
and  took  other  energetic  measures.  A  mob  attacked 
Mazas,  and  released  the  prisoners.  They  then  tried 
the  Hotel  de  Yille  a  second  time ;  but  they  had  now 
a  different  commander  to  deal  with,  and  they  were 
beaten  off  with  ease.  Mr.  Washburne  and  I  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Hotel  de 
Yille,  and  saw  something  of  this  affair.  "We  did  not 
stay  to  the  end,  however,  for  we  felt  that  it  was 
not  the  proper  place  for  us,  accredited  as  we  were 
to  the  Government  the  mob  was  attempting  to  over- 
throw. Had  Yinoy  or  Ducrot  been  in  command 
from  the  beginning,  the  result  might  have  been 
different.  There  was  no  reason  why  the  E'ational 
Guard  should  not  have  made  good  soldiers ;  but  they 
needed  a  discipline  of  iron.  They  were  permitted 
to  choose  their  own  officers.     This  of  itself  was  fatal. 


232  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

In  the  beginning  of  our  war  in  some  of  the  States 
tlie  comjDany  officers  were  elected  by  the  men.  But 
the  men  themselves  were  the  first  to  see  the  follj  of 
this  course,  and  petitioned  that  their  officers  might 
be  appointed  by  the  Executive.  Had  the  officers  of 
the  Xational  Guard  been  appointed  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  when  they  halted  at  the  barrier  and  re- 
fused to  go  farther,  had  a  battery  been  ordered  up, 
and  a  dozen  or  so  of  them  shot,  ''pour  encourager  les 
autres^''  as  the  French  said  of  Admiral  Byng,  they 
might  have  given  a  very  different  account  of  them- 
selves in  their  combats  with  the  Germans. 

On  the  27th  of  January,  with  seven  days'  provis- 
ions only  in  Paris,  with  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  on  the  shortest  possible  allowance,  the  city  sur- 
rendered. An  armistice  was  agreed  upon,  which 
was  not,  however,  to  apply  to  the  armies  of  the  East 
operating  toward  Lyons.  It  is  said  that  the  French 
commander  in  that  quarter  was  not  notified  that  the 
armistice  did  not  extend  to  him.  lie  was  attacked, 
caught  napping,  and  defeated. 

If  I  recollect  correctly,  it  was  Bourbaki  who  was 
defeated  in  the  East.  Bourbaki  is  the  type  of  the 
heau  militaire  of  the  French  Empire.  A  dashing, 
gallant  soldier,  he   had   distinguished  himself   and 


BOURBAKI.  233 


gained  liis  promotion  bj  scaling  the  walls  of  an 
Arab  town  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  armed  with  a 
light  riding -whip  only.  But  these  were  not  the 
men  then  wanted  at  the  head  of  the  French  ar- 
mies. When  Bonrbald  was  defeated,  and  his  army 
in  retreat,  making  its  disorderly  way  to  Switzerland, 
and  needing  all  its  General's  care  and  attention,  he 
attempted  to  commit  suicide.  In  the  German  serv- 
ice he  would  undoubtedly  have  been  tried  for  deser- 
tion. In  France  every  thing  is  pardoned  to  a  man 
who  acts  under  the  influence  of  strong  emotion  ;  and 
Bourbaki  was  never  even  blamed  for  leaving  his 
army  to  its  fate. 


234  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Election  in  France. — Terms  of  Peace. — Germans  enter  Paris. — Their 
Martial  Appearance.  —  American  Apartments  occupied.  —  "Wash- 
bume  remonstrates. — Attitude  of  Parisians. — The  Germans  evac- 
uate Paris.  —  Victualing  the  City.  —  Aid  from  England  and  the 
United  States. — Its  Distribution. — Sisters  of  Charity. 

DuKDsG  the  armistice  an  election  took  place.  The 
Assembly  met  at  Bordeaux  late  in  February,  and 
steps  were  taken  toward  peace.  All  sorts  of  rumors 
were  current  as  to  the  terms,  and  it  was  said  that 
they  were  so  severe  that  France  must  fight  on  at  all 
hazards  rather  than  accept  them.  Ten  mlliards,  it 
was  rumored,  were  to  be  paid  (two  thousand  millions 
of  dollars).  Alsace  and  Lorraine  and  a  French  col- 
ony were  to  be  given  up,  and  a  number  of  French 
men-of-war  made  over  to  Germany.  The  prelimina- 
ries were  finally  agreed  upon :  five  milliards  were  to 
be  paid,  and  Alsace  and  Lorraine  transferred.  Ger- 
man troops  were  to  occupy  Mount  Yalerien  and  to 
enter  Paris,  and  hold  a  part  of  it  until  peace  was 
definitively  signed.  The  Crown  Prince  was  reported 
to  have  been  opposed  to  the  troops  entering  the  cap- 


GERMANS  ENTER  PARIS.  235 

ital,  as  humiliating  to  the  French,  and  not  a  military 
necessity ;  but  he  was  overruled. 

On  the  1st  of  March  I  was  awakened  by  military 
music.  I  had  not  heard  any  for  a  long  time,  the 
French  bands  having  been  broken  up.  I  hurried 
out,  and  found  that  the  Germans  were  entering 
Paris.  First  came  the  traditional  Uhlans.  The  safe- 
ty with  which  these  troops  rode  in  pairs  through  a 
great  part  of  France  was  a  curious  feature  of  the 
war.  They  were  followed  by  their  supports.  Then 
came  a  mixed  band  of  about  one  thousand  troops, 
representing  all  arms  and  the  different  German  na- 
tionalities. They  were  sent  as  an  advance-guard  to 
secure  and  prepare  the  quarters  assigned  the  troops 
by  the  maires.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Emperor  was 
holding  a  review  at  Longchamps,  on  the  very  field 
where,  three  years  and  a  half  before,  he  had  assisted 
at  the  review  of  sixty  thousand  French  ti-oops  by  the 
Emperor  ]!^apoleon,  and  it  was  not  until  the  after- 
noon that  the  main  body,  the  Prussian  Guard,  the 
Saxons,  and  the  Bavarians,  marched  into  the  city. 
They  occupied  the  quarter  of  the  Champs  Elysees, 
extending  as  far  as  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  —  in 
all  about  one -eighth  of  Paris. 

This  was  a  busy  day  for  me.     Mr.  Washburne  was 


236  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

overrun  with  concierges  and  servants  complaining 
that  the  Pnissians  were  occupying  American  apart- 
ments. I  went  to  the  mayor  of  the  arrondissement. 
He  said  that  he  had  quartered  the  Germans  impar- 
tially upon  all  the  householders;  that  the  French 
law  exempted  apartments  of  an  annual  value  of  less 
than  one  hundred  dollars;  that  in  his  arrondisse- 
ment, as  I  knew,  the  apartments  were  either  remark- 
ably good  or  remarkably  poor ;  that  the  good  ones 
were  occupied  jDrincipally  by  foreigners,  and  that  the 
poor  ones  were  exempt.  From  the  mayor  I  went 
to  the  German  commander  occupying  the  house  of 
Queen  Christine  on  the  Champs  Elysees,  and  was 
told  at  his  head -quarters  that  they  had  nothing  to 
say  in  the  matter ;  that  they  had  requisitioned  a  cer- 
tain number  of  rooms  from  the  French  authorities, 
and  that  they  must  go  where  those  authorities  sent 
them,  and  had  no  right  to  go  elsewhere ;  that  it  was 
then  too  late  to  make  any  change  that  day,  but  that 
if  Mr.  Washburne  would  find  them  quarters  else- 
where, they  would  cheerfully  vacate  all  American 
apartments  the  next  day.  In  the  mean  time  ^Vash- 
burne  had  been  to  Jules  Favre.  Favre  tuld  him 
that  there  was  every  prospect  that  the  terms  of  peace 
would  be  accepted  by  the  Assembly  at  Bordeaux 


GERMAN  OCCUPATION.  237 

that  evening,  and  that  the  Germans,  in  accordance 
with  the  treaty,  would  leave  Paris  the  next  day. 
They  were  accepted  that  evening;  but  Bismarck 
wished  to  give  as  many  German  troops  as  possible 
an  opportunity  to  enter  Paris,  and  so  refused  to  ac- 
cept the  telegraphic  announcement  of  the  acceptance 
of  the  treaty  by  the  Assembly.  The  next  day  the 
written  official  notice  arrived,  and  the  day  after  Paris 
was  evacuated.  The  Germans  remained  in  Paris 
three  days.  They  did  no  harm.  I  heard  of  nothing 
missing  but  a  few  blankets.  By  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  thirty  thousand  were  to  occupy  Paris.  It  was 
rumored  that  the  garrison  was  changed  every  night, 
and  that  ninety  thousand  entered  in  all. 

The  attitude  of  the  people  of  Paris  toward  the 
conquerors  was,  upon  the  whole,  excellent.  They 
staid  away  from  the  occupied  quarter,  and  minded 
their  own  business.  In  this  quarter  the  shops  were 
all  closed,  except  a  few  restaurants  and  cafes  that  the 
Germans  insisted  should  be  opened.  Some  of  these 
cafes  were  afterward  gutted  by  the  mob,  which  was 
rather  hard  on  the  owners,  as  they  had  been  compel- 
led to  open  them.  But  a  mob  is  never  just.  Some 
few  of  the  populace  fraternized  with  the  invaders, 
and  were  to  be  seen  talking  amicably  with  them ; 


238  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


and  some  of  tlie  rougher  element  attempted  to  cre- 
ate a  disturbance,  but  were  soon  overawed  by  the 
great  numbers  and  martial  bearing  of  the  conquerors. 
While  only  thirty  thousand  were  in  Paris,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  a  hundred  thousand  were  within 
a  half -hour's  march,  ready  to  enter  to  the  assistance 
of  their  comrades  if  needed.  Indeed,  I  imagine  that 
all  the  trooj^s  who  passed  in  review  before  the  Em- 
peror at  Longchamps  either  occuj)ied  Paris,  or  were 
bivouacked  in  the  Bois  during  the  three  days  of  the 
occupation. 

They  had  come  in  very  quietly,  and  with  military 
precautions  against  surprise.  They  went  out  with  a 
flourish  of  trumpets.  They  had  bivouacked  in  large 
numbers  about  the  Arch,  and  their  camp-fires  lighted 
up  the  inscriptions  on  that  magnificent  monument 
recording  the  victories  of  French  over  German  arms. 
It  certainly  is  most  creditable  to  the  conquerors  that 
they  did  the  Arch  no  harm.  Few  nations  would 
have  been  so  magnanimous.  The  weather  was  per- 
fect, the  night  mild  and  balmy,  the  moon  nearly  full, 
and  the  beautiful  German  camp -songs,  admirably 
sung,  resounded  in  the  stillness  of  the  hour  till  ten 
o'clock  struck,  when  perfect  silence  reigned  in  the 
camp.     When    the    Germans    entered    Paris,  they 


VICTUALING   PARIS.  239 


marched  round  tlie  Arch ;  when  thej  went  out  they 
took  down  the  chains  which  inclose  it,  and  every 
regiment  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  and  every  battery 
of  artillery  passed  directly  under  it,  drums  beating, 
colors  flying,  and  the  men  cheering  as  they  passed. 
They  were  gloriously  repaid  for  the  trials  of  the 
campaign. 

Ten  days  passed  after  the  surrender,  and  apparent- 
ly the  French  authorities  had  made  no  provision  to 
revictual  Paris.     There  was  no  beef,  to  speak  of,  in 
the  city,  and  very  little  mutton.     The  bread  remain- 
ed the  same  wi-etched  dark  stuff,  one-third  flour,  two- 
thirds  pease,  beans,  oats,  rice,  straw— in  fact,  any  ref- 
use.    Delicious  white  bread,  fresh  butter,  and  eggs 
were  to  be  bought  of  the  German  soldiers  just  be- 
yond the  barriers ;  and  any  one  who  took  the  trouble, 
and  had  the  means,  could  procure  these  luxunes  at 
reasonable  prices.     The  peasants  sold  them  to  the 
German  soldiers,  and  they  were  permitted  to  resell 
them  at  a  small  profit.     The  first  train  of  provisions 
to  enter  Paris  was  sent  by  the  citizens  of  London,  to 
their  credit  be  it  spoken.     Will  it  be  believed  that 
considerable  difficulty  was  experienced  in  finding  per- 
sons willing  to  take  the  trouble  to  distribute  this 
food  gratuitously  ?    It  was  done  to  a  very  limited  ex- 


240  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

tent  at  the  mairies.  The  great  dry-goods  establish- 
ment of  the  Bon  Marche  distributed  a  portion  ;  but 
much  was  stored  in  the  Halles  de  TAbondance  for 
want  of  distribution,  and  burned  up  when  tliat  estab- 
lishment was  destroyed  during  the  Commune.  I  re- 
member hearing  a  Chauvin  of  the  Assembly  at  Ver- 
sailles pitch  into  the  English  for  coming  over  after 
the  Commune  to  visit  Paris  in  her  desolation.  He 
was  answered  by  Jules  Favre,  as  happily  as  truly, 
that  "  the  English,  before  they  organized  their 
trains  of  pleasure,  had  organized  their  trains  of  re- 
lief." 

In  this  connection  let  me  state  that  more  than  two 
millions  of  dollars  were  sent  from  the  United  States. 
At  least  two  cargoes  of  provisions  arrived  at  Havre, 
our  Government  supplying  the  vessels.  No  one 
could  be  found  to  distribute  the  supplies.  The 
French  are  so  government-ridden  that  they  are  un- 
able to  take  the  initiative  in  any  thing  for  them- 
selves. I  have  seen  a  strong,  bold  man,  a  guide  in 
the  Pyrenees,  stand  wringing  his  hands  and  crying, 
while  his  house  was  on  fire,  waiting  for  the  soldiers 
to  come  and  save  his  furniture  and  put  out  the 
flames.  One  of  the  shiploads  of  2')rovisions  I  speak 
of  was  sent  to  London,  sold  there,  and  the  proceeds 


RELIEF  FROM  THE   UNITED  STATES.        241 

distributed  to  the  poor  of  France.  Part  of  the  relief 
sent  was  distributed  through  the  Government,  but 
experience  showed  this  method  to  be  slow — there  was 
too  much  red-tape  about  it.  The  funds  were  finally 
placed  in  the  hands  of  American  ladies  and  gentle- 
men residing  at  Paris  and  Yersailles,  whose  knowl- 
edge of  France  and  acquaintance  with  French  people 
gave  them  the  means  of  making  a  judicious  distribu- 
tion. A  part  was  exj)ended  by  a  committee  of  ladies, 
of  which  Madame  MacMahon  was  the  President; 
something  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Countess 
of  Paris,  out  of  regard  for  her  husband,  who  had 
served  in  our  army  during  the  war ;  and  a  very  large 
portion  was  distributed  through  the  Sisters  of  Char- 
ity. I^othing  could  be  more  judicious,  and  at  the 
same  time  more  thoroughly  business-like,  than  the 
manner  in  which  these  admirable  women  disposed 
of  the  money  intrusted  to  them,  rendering  a  voucher 
for  every  franc  they  expended.  One  felt  that  every 
penny  in  their  hands  had  been  placed  where  it  was 
most  needed,  and  would  do  most  good. 

Mr.  Washburne  left  Paris  early  in  February  for 
Brussels,  where  his  family  were  residing,  and  where, 
by  -  the  -  way,  a  very  large  number  of  our  Parisian 
Americans  had  taken  refuge.     But  he  came  back  in 

11 


242  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

a  week,  feeling  quite  poorly.  He  had  been  so  over- 
nin  with  visitors  making  inquiries  or  asking  favors, 
that  he  had  had  no  rest,  and  so  returned  to  the  lately 
beleaguered  city  for  a  little  quiet.  I  remained  until 
the  Germans  had  made  their  triumphal  entry,  and 
their  more  triumphal  departure,  and  then  got  leave 
and  went  to  London  to  join  my  family. 


THE   COMMUNE.  243 


CHAPTEK  XX. 

The  Commune. — Murder  of  French  Generals. — The  National  Guard  of 
Order. — It  disbands. — The  Reasons. — Flight  of  the  Government  to 
Versailles. — Thiers. — Attempts  to  reorganize  National  Guard. — An 
American  arrested  by  Commune. — Legation  intervenes. — His  Dis- 
charge.— His  Treatment. — Reign  of  King  Mob. — "■  Demonstratiom 
Pacifiqv£sP — Absurd  Decrees  of  the  Commune. — Destruction  of  the 
Vendome  Column. 

But  it  has  rarely  been  my  lot,  in  the  course  of  my 
official  life,  to  enjoy  an  uninterrupted  leave  of  ab- 
sence. The  present  was  no  exception.  I  was  scarce- 
ly fairly  installed  in  England,  and  fighting  "  my  bat- 
tles o'er  again,"  and  showing  "  how  fields  were  "  lost, 
when  there  came  a  telegram  from  Mr.  Washburne 
telling  me  that  there  were  disturbances  in  Paris,  and 
that  I  must  return  immediately.  Some  of  the  I^a- 
tional  Guard  of  the  Belleville  and  Montmartre  quar- 
ters had  taken  advantage  of  the  confusion  reigning 
immediately  after  the  surrender,  and  seized  several 
field-guns  and  mitrailleuses,  and  carried  them  off  to 
their  fastnesses  on  Montmartre.  They  now  refused 
to  surrender  them ;  and  when  the  Government  at- 


244  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

tempted  to  take  tliem,  the  troops  fraternized  with 
the  mob,  and  deserted  their  generals,  Lecompte  and 
Thomas,  whom  the  Communists  forthwith  shot.  It 
was  said  that  Count  Bismarck  had  urged  the  disarm- 
ing of  the  National  Guard  at  the  time  of  the  sur- 
render. Trochu's  Government  had  refused.  They 
must  have  bitterly  regretted  it  afterward. 

On  my  return  I  entered  Paris  by  the  Gare  St. 
Lazare.  That  usually  peaceful  temple  of  traffic  was 
thronged  by  Gardes  Nationaux  — "  The  National 
Guard  of  Order,"  they  called  themselves,  or  were 
called,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Communists. 
These  gentlemen  appeared  to  be  enjoying  them- 
selves. They  were  comfortably  housed  in  the  build- 
ing, and  lounged  and  chatted  there,  not  without  fre- 
quent visits  to  the  neighboring  cafes.  I  found  that 
they  held  the  Grand  Hotel,  and  the  new  Opera- 
house,  both  strong  positions,  and  within  easy  sup- 
porting distance  of  each  other.  They  also  held  the 
Bourse,  the  Bank  of  France,  the  "Finances,"  and 
many  other  "  coignes  of  vantage."  But  "  coignes  of 
vantage  "  are  of  very  little  use  when  the  heart  to  de- 
fend them  is  lacking.  In  a  very  few  days  these 
men,  outnumbering  the  Communists  two  or  three  to 
one,  backed  by  the  power  of  the  Government  and 


MV  BARBER.  245 


the  wealth  of  Paris,  and  by  the  moral  support  of  the 
Germans  and  of  the  civilized  world,  had  disband- 
ed, taken  refuge  in  flight,  and  left  their  families,  and 
their  property,  and  their  beautiful  city  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  the  mob. 

It  was  a  matter  of  the  utmost  astonishment  to  me, 
and  to  every  one  with  whom  I  conversed,  that  the 
N^ational  Guard  of  Order  should  have  behaved  as 
they  did.  I  never  understood  it  till  I  talked  with 
my  barber  just  after  his  battalion  had  disbanded,  and 
before  he  had  escaped  to  London.  They  got  tired 
of  sleeping  away  from  their  families,  getting  their 
meals  irregularly,  and  having  to  pay  restaurant- 
prices  for  them.  They  were  in  a  state  of  disgust, 
too,  with  the  Government,  who  refused  to  pass  an 
act  to  relieve  them  from  their  rents  accrued  during 
the  siege.  My  barber  was  an  excellent  representa- 
tive of  his  class,  the  jpetite  bourgeoisie  /  a  well-to-do 
man,  employing  two  apprentices,  making  a  good 
livelihood,  and  laying  by  something  for  a  dot  for  his 
children — economical,  intelligent,  sober.  He  belong- 
ed to  the  most  respectable  battalion  in  the  city,  that 
of  the  quarter  of  the  "  Finances."  I  expressed  my 
surprise  at  their  disbanding.  He  said  that  the  Gov- 
ernment would  do  nothing  for  them,  so  they  would 


246  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

do  nothing  for  the  Government :  it  might  put  down 
the  emeute  itself.  So  they  abandoned  their  proper- 
ty and  their  homes  and  their  idolized  Paris,  shut  up 
their  shops,  and  ran  away. 

The  relations  between  the  Government  and  the 
governed  in  France  are  difficult  for  an  American  to 
understand.  In  the  United  States  and  in  England 
the  Government  is  our  government,  its  interests  are 
our  interests,  and  we  stand  by  and  defend  it,  not 
only  because  it  is  our  duty  to  do  so,  but  because  it  is 
ours.  This  feeling  does  not  exist  in  France  among 
the  masses,  the  j9(?^i'^  commerce  and  the  peasantry. 
They  look  upon  the  Government  as  a  foreign  body 
which  has  somehow  or  other — it  matters  very  little 
how — got  possession  of  power.  As  long  as  it  pre- 
serves order,  prevents  crime,  insures  prosperity,  and 
gratifies  vanity  by  foreign  conquests,  it  is  firmly 
seated;  but  the  moment  it  ceases  to  be  able  to  do 
all  this,  let  it  go,  and  try  another. 

It  is  a  strange  notion  of  the  duties  of  a  Govern- 
ment that  it  must  insure  prosperity ;  but  it  prevails 
very  generally  among  the  masses  in  France,  and  is 
not  unknown  among  the  uneducated  classes  in  other 
countries.  The  theory  of  the  Long  Island  fisher- 
man is  more  generally  acted  upon  than  is  acknowl- 


FLIGHT  OF   THE    GOVERNMENT  247 

edged:  "He  knew  Governor  Dix,  and  he  liked 
Governor  Dix,  but  he  hadn't  averaged  an  eel  to  a 
pot  all  summer;  and  he  thought  he  would  try  a 
new  governor." 

The  conduct  of  the  Government,  or,  rather,  that 
of  M.  Thiers — for  at  that  time  Thiers  was  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  he  might  have  said  with  perfect  truth, 
"L^etat  d'est  moi^^ — has  been  much  and  harshly  criti- 
cised. Whether  this  criticism  is  just  or  not,  depends 
upon  the  loyalty  or  disloyalty  of  the  troops.  If  they 
were  true  to  their  colors  and  ready  to  fight  the  mob, 
as  they  afterward  did,  there  never  was  a  more  cow- 
ardly and  disgraceful  surrender  than  the  retreat  to 
Yersailles,  as  unwise  and  unmilitary  as  it  was  cow- 
ardly, for  it  discouraged  the  respectable  citizens,  and 
abandoned  to  the  mob  all  the  advantages  of  position, 
immense  war  material,  and  the  unbounded  wealth 
of  the  capital.  It  was  proceeding  upon  Artemus 
"Ward's  military  plan.  Artemus  said  that  if  he  were 
in  a  city  with  fifty  thousand  men,  besieged  by  an 
enemy  with  fifty  thousand  men,  he  would  open  the 
gates  and  march  out,  and  let  them  march  in,  and  then 
besiege  them.  Artemus  and  M.  Thiers  appear  to 
have  studied  in  the  same  military  school.  But  if,  as 
Thiers  alleged,  the  army  could  not  be  relied  upon, 


248  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

but  were  ready  to  raise  the  butts  of  their  muskets  "  en 
air''''  and  fraternize  with  the  Communists,  then  there 
never  was  a  wiser  movement :  it  was  truly  a  "  mas- 
terly retreat."  Had  what  Thiers  apprehended  hap- 
pened, had  the  troops  fraternized  with  the  mob,  a 
movement  which  was  only  an  insurrection — a  bloody 
one,  it  is  true,  but  confined  to  one  city — would  have 
spread  over  France,  and  there  would  have  been  a 
repetition,  with  aggravation,  of  all  the  horrors  of  the 
first  Kevolution. 

Before  the  National  Guard  of  Order  disbanded, 
several  well-intentioned  efforts  were  made  by  officers 
of  rank  to  effect  an  organization  among  the  citizens 
against  the  insurgents.  Admiral  de  Saissy  either 
volunteered,  or  was  sent  by  the  Government,  to  take 
command.  He  made  his  head-quarters  at  the  Grand 
Hotel,  within  a  stone's-throw  of  the  Communists  in- 
trenched in  the  Place  Yendome.  Here  they  were 
isolated,  far  from  their  supports  at  Belleville  and 
Montmartre.  "Why  the  Admiral  did  not  place  a  bat- 
tery in  position  in  the  Tuileries  Gardens,  command- 
ing the  Place  Yendome  by  the  Pue  Castiglione,  or 
why  he  did  not  simply  starve  the  Communists  out,  I 
never  knew :  probably  he  could  not  depend  upon  his 
men.     I  am  confirmed  in  this  belief  by  a  circum- 


ARREST  OF  AN  AMERICAN.  249 

stance  which  happened  within  my  own  observation. 
Two  or  three  French  gentlemen  called  at  the  Lega- 
tion one  morning,  to  say  that  a  young  American 
friend,  a  Mr.  Delpit,  of  E"ew  Orleans,  had  been  ar- 
rested by  the  Communists,  and  was  then  a  prisoner 
in  the  Place  Yendome,  and  would  probably  be  drag- 
ged that  day  before  a  Communist  court-martial,  con- 
demned, and  shot.  Mr.  Washburne  was  at  Versailles. 
I  immediately  sent  his  private  secretary,  an  attache 
of  the  Legation,  furnished  with  all  the  necessary 
documents,  to  his  relief.  In  a  very  short  time  Mr. 
M'Kean  returned,  after  a  most  successful  mission. 
He  had  seen  Delpit,  he  had  seen  the  insurgent  author- 
ities, and  they  had  promised  to  discharge  their  pris- 
oner that  very  day.  They  did  so.  The  next  day  he 
came  up  to  thank  us  for  our  prompt  intervention  in 
his  behalf,  which  had  undoubtedly  saved  his  life.  I 
naturally  asked  him  how  he  happened  to  be  arrested. 
He  said  that  he  had  gone  to  see  Admiral  de  Saissy, 
whom  he  knew,  at  the  Grand  Hotel ;  that  the  Ad- 
miral was  very  anxious  to  send  a  dispatch  to  a  distant 
part  of  the  city ;  that  the  Admiral's  aid  was  ready 
to  start,  but  that  there  appeared  to  be  a  very  unani- 
mous indisposition  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the 
National  Guard  to  accompany  him ;  that  thereupon 

11* 


250  CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 

he  volunteered.  The  Admiral  jumped  at  the  offer, 
and  said,  '-^You  will  go,  I  know ;  you  are  an  Ameri- 
can; you  are  not  afraid."  A  French  commander 
must  have  been  very  much  provoked  by  the  conduct 
of  the  officers  about  him  to  use  such  language  in 
their  presence.  Delpit  and  the  aid  started,  but  had 
gone  but  a  little  way,  when  they  were  surrounded 
by  a  squad  of  the  insurgents,  who  ordered  them  to 
halt.  Delpit  drew  his  revolver,  and  threatened  to 
shoot,  while  he  told  his  companion  to  run.  The  aid 
escaped.  The  insurgents  leveled  their  pieces,  and 
were  about  to  fire,  when  Delpit,  seeing  that  his  com- 
panion had  escaped,  concluded  that  discretion  was 
the  better  part  of  valor,  and  surrendered.  They  dis- 
armed him,  treating  him  very  roughly,  and  one  of 
them — a  negro — spat  in  his  face.  They  shut  him  up 
in  a  cellar  in  the  Place  Yendome,  and  it  was  likely 
to  go  hard  with  him,  when  M'Kean  appeared  upon 
the  scene.  Delpit  told  me  that  when  they  found 
that  he  was  cared  for  by  the  Legation,  their  conduct 
changed  marvelously.  They  treated  him  with  the 
greatest  respect,  and  the  colored  brother  who  had 
spit  in  his  face  was  particularly  marked  in  his  at- 
tentions. Delpit  has  since  distinguished  himself  as 
a  poet.    His  work  on  the  siege  of  Paris  was  crowned 


KING   MOB.  251 


by  the  Academy,  and  he  is  the  author  of  a  success- 
ful play,  which  means  much  in  France. 

But  Admiral  de  Saissy  had  had  enough  of  it.  He 
gave  it  up,  and  went  back  to  Yersailles.  The  IS'a- 
tional  Guard  of  Order  disbanded,  and  King  Mob 
reigned  triumphant. 

At  first  King  Mob  was  a  good-natured  monarch. 
He  collected  a  lot  of  pitch-pine  torches,  and  lighted 
them  on  top  of  the  Yendome  Column.  The  effect 
was  good.  He  made  bonfires,  fired  off  guns,  organ- 
ized processions,  made  speeches ;  in  fact,  behaved  like 
any  first-class  American  city  on  the  Fourth  of  July. 
This  did  not  last  long,  however.  The  tiger  soon 
showed  his  claws.  The  party  of  order,  having  given 
up  their  arms  and  disbanded,  proceeded  to  organize 
what  they  called  a  "  demonstration  jpacifique^'^  de- 
signed to  produce  a  moral  effect  upon  a  horde  of 
savages.  They  paraded  the  streets  in  large  numbers 
unarmed.  The  first  day's  procession  was  rather  a 
success.  It  was  a  novelty,  and  took.  The  second 
day's  was  not  so  successf al.  They  marched  up  the 
Rue  de  la  Paix,  intending,  in  the  grandeur  of  their 
moral  strength,  to  pass  straight  through  the  Place 
Yendome,  the  tiger's  lair.  The  barricades  were  to 
disappear  at  their  approach,  the  insurgents  were  to 


252  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

throw  themselves  into  their  arms,  and  there  was  to 
be  one  huge  kiss  of  peace  and  reconciliation.  Un- 
fortunately, things  did  not  turn  out  as  set  down  in 
the  bills.  The  barriers  did  not  melt  away,  and  the 
insurgents  refused  to  kiss  and  make  friends.  On  the 
contrary,  they  opened  fire  on  the  procession,  and 
several  of  its  numbers  were  killed.  It  was  a  well- 
meant  effort,  but  Quixotic  to  the  last  degree. 

And  now  the  tiger  had  tasted  blood,  and  his  appe- 
tite grew  by  what  it  fed  on.  But  his  rage  increased 
by  degrees,  advancing  from  one  atrocity  to  another, 
till  it  culminated  in  the  slaughter  of  the  hostages. 

There  was  a  mixture  of  the  ridiculous  with  the 
infamous  in  the  early  acts  of  the  Commune.  Its 
members  were  very  numerous ;  so,  for  working  pur- 
poses they  appointed  a  "  Committee  of  Public  Safe- 
ty," which  very  soon  belied  its  name.  These  men 
appointed  the  ministers.  To  call  a  man  "  Minister 
of  War"  was  not  democratic,  so  they  called  him  "(?^- 
toyen  deUgue  au  Ministere  de  la  GuerreP  The  title 
of  "  General "  they  found  inconsistent  with  the  sim- 
plicity of  republican  institutions,  and  so  suppressed 
it.  "Colonel"  could  pass  muster,  but  "General" 
was  too  aristocratic  for  their  dainty  ears.  Then  they 
found  that,  like  other  mere  mortals,  they  must  live 


DECREES   OF  COMMUNE.  253 

and  provide  for  their  families.  It  was  so  mucli  eas- 
ier to  pillage  a  shop  than  to  work !  The  shop-keeper 
should  be  proud  to  contribute  to  the  well-being  of 
the  brave  defenders  of  the  Republic !  Then  they 
published  a  decree  seizing  all  the  workshops,  that 
thej  might  be  occupied  by  Communist  workmen  on 
the  co-operative  system.  A  jury  was  to  be  appoint- 
ed— by  the  Commune,  of  course — to  assess  the  value 
of  the  property,  and  compensation  was  to  be  made 
to  the  owner.  As  a  practical  measure,  this  was  not 
a  success.  The  workmen  found  it  pleasanter  to  play 
soldier,  and  to  take  what  they  wanted,  than  to  work 
even  on  the  co-operative  system.  So  the  workshops 
generally  remained  in  the  hands  of  their  owners. 
]N"ext  they  commenced  the  work  of  demolition,  and 
almost  equaled  the  great  Hanssmann  in  this  respect. 
They  pulled  down  the  house  of  M.  Thiers  (the  As- 
sembly has  since  built  him  a  better  one) ;  and  they 
passed  decrees  to  tear  down  the  houses  of  Jules  Fa- 
vre  and  other  members  of  the  Government,  and  con- 
fiscate their  property.  Happily  the  patriots  to  whom 
the  execution  of  these  decrees  was  intrusted  were 
not  perfectly  immaculate;  they  could  generally  he 
seen.  In  this  way  much  less  irreparable  injury  was 
done  than  might  have  been  expected. 


2  54  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

One  of  their  follies  was  the  destruction  of  the 
Colonne  Yendume.  An  eminent  artist — Courbet — 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Commune,  said  that  it 
offended  his  artistic  taste.  Others  of  this  band  of 
brothers  said  that  it  perpetuated  the  victory  of  war 
over  peace  ;  that  it  kept  alive  a  feeling  of  triumph 
in  the  conquerors  and  revenge  in  the  conquered; 
that  the  peoples  sliould  be  brothers,  etc.,  etc.  So 
they  pulled  it  down ;  and  the  present  Government 
forthwith  rebuilt  it,  and  the  courts  have  condemned 
M.  Courbet  to  pay  the  expense. 

When  the  Column  was  pulled  down,  all  the  shop- 
windows  within  half  a  mile  were  pasted  over  with 
strips  of  paper  to  prevent  their  being  broken  by 
the  shock.  It  fell,  and  people  two  hundred  yards 
off  did  not  know  that  any  thing  unusual  had  hap- 
pened. It  was  a  question  much  discussed  how  far 
the  prostrate  Column  would  reach.  Its  length  was 
generally  much  overestimated.  It  was  thought  that 
it  would  extend  at  least  one  hundred  feet  into  the 
Rue  de  la  Paris.  It  did  not  enter  the  street,  nor 
even  cross  the  Place  Yendome.  The  bronze  plates 
were  nearly  all  saved.  Some  few  were  disposed  of 
by  the  Communist  soldiers.  One  was  sold  by  a 
sailor  to  a  lady  for  five  hundred  francs.     He  after- 


COLONNE    VEND O ME.  255 

ward  denounced  her  to  the  Government,  and  got  five 
hundred  francs  more  for  doing  so.  A  profitable 
transaction !  One  was  sold  to  an  American,  and 
made  the  voyage  to  New  York,  where  it  was  found 
by  the  French  Consul,  reclaimed,  and  returned  to 
Paris. 


256  CAJi/F,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


CHAPTEK  XXI. 

Diplomatic  Corps  moves  to  Versailles.  —  Journey  there  and  back. — 
Life  at  Versailles. — German  Princes. — Battle  at  Clamart. — Unbur- 
ied  Insurgents. — Bitterness  of  Class  Hatred. — Its  Probable  Causes. 
— United  States  Post-office  at  Versailles. — The  Archbishop  of  Par- 
is. —  Attempts  to  save  his  Life.  —  Washburne's  Kindness  to  him. 
— Blanqui. — Archbishop  murdered. — Ultramontanism. — Bombard- 
ment by  Government. — My  Apartment  struck. — Capricious  Effects 
of  Shells.— Injury  to  Arch  of  Triumph. — Bass-reliefs  of  Peace  and 
War. 

As  soon  as  the  Government  had  moved  to  Ver- 
sailles, the  diplomatic  corps  followed.  Mr.  Wash- 
burne  hired  a  large  room  in  the  Kue  de  Mademoiselle 
(the  sister  of  Louis  XI Y.  —  all  Versailles  bears  the 
impress  of  the  reign  of  that  monarch).  This  room 
had  to  do  for  office,  bedroom,  and  sitting-room  ;  for 
Versailles  was  crowded,  and  we  were  lucky  to  get 
any  thing  so  comfortable.  As  we  had  far  more  to 
do  at  Paris  than  at  Versailles,  and  Paris  was  then,  as 
always,  the  seat  of  attraction,  Mr.  Washburne  spent 
four  days  of  the  week  in  that  city,  and  three  at  Ver- 
sailles, and  I  alternated  with  him.  We  had  passes 
from  both  sides.     I  made  the  trip  twice  a  week,  and 


ROUTE    TO    VERSAILLES.  257 


sometimes  under  considerable  difficulties.  I  have 
traveled  more  than  thirty  miles  to  reach  Paris  from 
Versailles,  a  distance  of  nine  miles,  partly  in  a  dili- 
gence, partly  on  foot,  partly  in  flat-boats  to  cross 
the  Seine  where  the  French  had  most  unnecessarily 
blown  up  their  own  beautiful  bridges,  and  partly  by 
rail.  I  suppose  that  I  am  better  acquainted  with  the 
westerly  environs  of  Paris  than  any  foreigner  but  a 
medical  student.  Some  of  the  di-ives  in  the  months 
of  April  and  May,  especially  one  by  Sceaux  and 
Fontaine-les-Koses,  and  up  the  valley  of  the  Bievre, 
are  very  lovely. 

But  after  a  while  we  had  a  regular  organized  line 
by  St.  Denis.  The  Germans  occupied  this  town, 
and  insisted  upon  keeping  open  the  railroad  into 
Paris,  the  Chemin  de  Per  du  ISTord.  They  said  that 
under  the  treaty  they  had  a  right  to  draw  certain 
supplies  from  France,  and  that  Paris  was  the  most 
convenient  place  to  draw  them  from,  and  from  Paris 
they  meant  to  draw  them ;  and  that  if  the  Commu- 
nists did  not  keep  the  Porte  St.  Denis  open,  they 
would.  The  Commune  always  had  a  wholesome 
fear  of  the  Germans;  this  was  all  that  restrained 
them  from  even  greater  outrages  than  they  perpetra- 
ted; and  they  hated  the  Germans  less  than  they  did 


258  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

their  own  countrymen  at  Yersailles.  In  going  to 
Versailles  we  took  the  train  to  St.  Denis ;  there  we 
hired  a  carriage,  or  took  the  public  conveyance,  and 
so  drove  to  our  destination,  a  trip  of  about  three 
hours  in  all :  or  we  drove  out  by  the  Porte  St.  De- 
nis, and  so  all  the  way  to  Yersailles.  This  was  gen- 
erally my  route,  for  a  number  of  American  and 
French  friends  asked  me  to  bring  their  horses  and 
carriages  from  the  ill-fated  city.  If  the  Communist 
officers  at  the  gates  were  close  observers,  they  must 
have  thought  that  I  was  the  owner  of  one  of  the 
largest  and  best-appointed  stables  in  Paris. 

There  was  very  little  to  do  at  Yersailles,  and  per- 
haps less  to  eat.  The  Government  was  there,  and 
the  Assembly,  and  the  Corps  Diplomatique,  and 
consequently  the  crowd  of  people  who  had  business 
with  these  bodies,  thronged  to  that  city.  At  the 
restaurants  it  was  a  struggle  to  get  any  thing;  and 
when  you  got  it,  it  was  not  precisely  in  the  Cafe 
Anglais  style.  I  found  two  or  three  pleasant  Amer- 
ican families  who  had  wintered  here  very  quietly 
during  the  German  occupation.  They  had  had  no 
occasion  to  complain  of  their  treatment.  At  the 
Hotel  de  France  I  found  Dr.  Hosmer,  the  intelligent 
and  cultivated  principal  correspondent  of  the  Her- 


BATTLE  AT  CLAM  ART.  259 

aid.  That  enterprising  journal  had  its  staff  of  cou- 
riers, who  were  always  at  our  service  during  those 
days  of  irregular  postal  communication.  At  the  Ho- 
tel des  Reservoirs  several  German  princes,  officers  of 
the  army,  were  lodged — intelligent,  agreeable,  culti- 
vated gentlemen.  They  were  only  too  glad  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  the  society  of  American  ladies,  for 
of  course  they  could  not  visit  the  French ;  and  no 
class  of  men  long  for  and  appreciate  ladies'  society 
like  educated  officers  on  campaign  in  an  enemy's 
country.  They  eagerly  accepted  invitations  to  dine 
with  my  friends  for  a  double  reason,  the  pleasure 
of  their  society,  and  that  of  a  good  dinner;  for  the 
French  cook  never  could  manage,  though  of  course 
he  did  his  best,  to  cook  a  good  dinner  for  the  Ger- 
mans, and  the  landlord  was  always  just  out  of  that 
favorite  brand  of  Champagne. 

The  day  after  my  first  arrival  at  Yersailles  I  made 
an  excursion  to  the  battle-field  at  Clamart,  near 
Meudon.  The  Communists  had  been  defeated  there 
the  day  before.  I  had  "  assisted  "  at  the  battle  from 
the  Paris  side.  In  attempting  to  reach  Yersailles  in 
that  direction,  I  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  the 
insurgents,  and  under  the  fire  of  the  troops.  The 
manner  in  which  the  insurgents  behaved  had  not 


26o  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

given  me  a  very  exalted  idea  of  their  soldierly  qual- 
ities. It  was  all  confusion,  talking,  drinking,  and 
panic.  A  mob  of  them  surged  up  to  the  gate,  and 
demanded  admission.  It  was  refused,  and  they  were 
ordered  back  to  their  regiments.  But  the  crowd  in- 
creased, and  became  more  clamorous.  The  princi- 
ples of  fraternity  forbade  the  guard  to  keep  their 
brethren  out  in  the  cold,  where  the  naughty  Yersail- 
lais  might  pounce  upon  them;  so  the  draw -bridge 
fell,  the  gates  opened,  and  the  runaways  entered. 

When  I  visited  the  battle-field,  many  of  the  dead 
still  lay  unburied,  while  the  soldiers  lounged  about 
with  their  hands  in  those  everlasting  pockets,  and 
looking  with  the  most  perfect  indifference  upon 
their  dead  countrymen.  The  class  hatred  which 
exists  in  France  is  something  we  have  no  idea  of, 
and  I  trust  that  we  never  shall.  It  is  bitter,  relent- 
less, and  cruel ;  and  is,  no  doubt,  a  sad  legacy  of  the 
bloody  Eevolution  of  1789,  and  of  the  centuries  of 
oppression  which  preceded  it.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  war  the  peasants  in  one  of  the  villages  not  far 
from  Paris  thrust  a  young  nobleman  into  a  ditch, 
and  there  burned  him  to  death  with  the  stubble 
from  the  fields.  They  had  nothing  particular  against 
him,  except  that  he  w^as  a  nobleman.     In  Paris  the 


POST-OFFICE.  261 


mob  threw  the  gendarmes,  when  they  caught  them, 
into  the  Seine,  and  when  thej  attempted  to  struggle 
out  upon  the  banks  hacked  off  their  hands.  On  the 
battle-field  I  have  referred  to,  the  freres  chretiens^  a 
most  devoted  and  excellent  body  of  men,  were  mov- 
ing about  on  their  errands  of  mercy.  Seeing  these 
unburied  bodies,  they  went  to  the  commanding  offi- 
cer, and  begged  him  to  detail  a  party  to  bury  them. 
He  did  it  to  oblige  them.  As  the  soldiers  lifted  one 
of  the  dead,  a  young  American  who  accompanied  me 
said,  "  Why,  he  hasn't  a  bad  face  after  all  1"  At  once 
the  soldiers  looked  at  him  with  suspicion,  the  officer 
asked  him  who  he  was,  and,  upon  being  told,  advised 
him  not  to  express  any  such  sentiments  again. 

Our  principal  occupation  at  Yersailles  was  keeping 
a  post-office  for  Americans  in  Paris.  M.  Eampont, 
the  directeur  des  jpostes,  had  escaped,  with  all  his 
staff,  and  established  the  office  at  Versailles.  The 
archives  of  the  bureau  of  the  Avenue  Josephine 
were  placed  in  our  Legation.  The  Communists  were 
angry  enough  to  find  themselves  cut  off  from  all 
postal  communication  with  the  departments.  It  di- 
minished their  chances  of  success.  The  only  means 
Americans  had  of  communicating  with  their  friends 
in  Paris  was  to  send  their  letters  to  the  care  of  the 


262  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

Legation  at  Yersailles.  "We  have  received  as  many 
as  fifty  in  one  day.  Two  or  three  times  a  week  we 
took  or  sent  them  to  Paris.  They  were  there  mailed 
by  the  Legation,  and  distributed  by  the  rebel  post- 
ofiice.  It  cost  Uncle  Samuel  a  penny  or  two,  but 
he  and  his  representatives  at  Washington  did  not 
grumble. 

The  only  episode  of  interest  that  occurred  at  Yer- 
sailles was  our  attempt  to  save  the  life  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris.  He  had  been  arrested  by  the  Com- 
mune, and  held  as  a  hostage  for  the  release  of  some 
of  their  own  rag,  tag,  and  bobtail.  One  day  the 
Pope's  IS'uncio  called  to  see  Mr.  Washburne.  He 
was  in  Paris.  The  IS'once  thereupon  explained  his 
business  to  me,  and  afterward  sent  two  canons  of  the 
Metropolitan  Church  to  see  me.  They  came  to  beg 
Mr.  "Washburne  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  save  the  life 
of  the  Archbishoi^,  which  they  considered  to  be  in  im- 
minent danger.  They  had  already  tried  one  or  more 
European  embassies,  but  were  met  with  the  answer 
that  they  could  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Com- 
mune. They  handed  me  their  papers,  and  I  went  at 
once  to  Paris.  Mr.  Washburne  took  up  the  matter 
with  his  accustomed  energy  and  kindliness.  He  got 
permission  to  see  the  prisoner.     He  took  him  books 


THE  ARCHBISHOP.  263 


and  newspapers  and  old  wine.  He  did  all  in  his 
power  to  negotiate  an  exchange  with  Blanqni,  a  vet- 
eran agitator  held  bj  the  Government.  The  Com- 
mune consented,  but  the  Versailles  authorities  would 
not.  M.  Thiers  consulted  his  ministers  and  his  coun- 
cil of  deputies.  They  were  unanimously  of  opinion 
that  they  could  hold  no  dealings  with  the  Commune. 
It  was  then  proposed  to  let  Blanqui  escape,  and  that 
thereupon  the  Archbishop  should  escape  too,  and 
that  there  need  be  no  negotiations  whatever.  This 
M.  Thiers  declined. 

Matters  were  complicated  by  the  conduct  of  the 
Yicar- general  Lagarde.  He  had  been  a  prisoner 
with  the  Archbishop,  and  had  been  released  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  letters  to  Versailles  with  a  view 
to  negotiate  the  proposed  exchange,  and  on  condi- 
tion that  he  should  return.  Once  safely  at  Yer- 
sailles,  he  declined  to  go  back.  His  pretext  was  that 
M.  Thiers's  letter  in  reply  to  the  Archbishop's  was 
sealed,  and  that  he  could  not  carry  back  a  sealed  let- 
ter in  reply  to  one  unsealed.  I  remember  the  sad 
and  resigned,  but  not  bitter  tone,  in  which  the  Arch- 
bishop wrote  of  this  desertion,  and  the  exceedingly 
cautious  terms  in  which  the  Pope's  iN'uncio  referred 
to  it. 


264  CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 

But  Mr.  Washbiirne's  untiring  efforts  were  in  vain. 
He  had  to  contend  with  the  ms  inertia  of  French 
bureaucracy,  and  he  who  can  move  this  mass  must 
be  ten  times  a  Hercules. 

The  Archbishop  was  murdered;  but  Blanqui, 
whom  the  French  Government  held  with  so  relent- 
less a  grip,  was  condemned  to  a  year  or  two's  im- 
prisonment only. 

I  thought  at  that  time,  and  think  still,  that  no  de- 
termined effort  was  made  to  save  the  Archbishop's 
life,  except  by  two  or  three  canons  of  his  Church, 
and  by  the  Minister  of  the  United  States.  The 
French  authorities  certainly  were  lukewarm  in  the 
matter.  The  Archbishop  was  a  Galilean,  a  liberal 
Catholic,  notably  so.  Had  he  been  an  Ultramontane, 
I  think  that  the  extreme  Eight  of  the  Assembly — 
the  Legitimists — would  have  so  exerted  themselves 
that  his  life  would  have  been  saved.  M.  Thiers  oc- 
cupied a  difficult  position.  He  was  suspected  by  the 
Legitimists  of  coquetting  with  the  radicals,  and  of 
having  no  serious  intention  of  putting  down  the  in- 
surrection. The  suspicion  was,  of  course,  unfound- 
ed ;  but  it  may  have  prevented  him  from  entering 
upon  those  informal  negotiations  which  would  prob- 
ably have  resulted  in  the  release  of  the  prisoner. 


FORTIFICATIONS  OF  PARIS.  265 

I  once  expressed  these  views  to  a  lady  in  Paris, 
herself  a  liberal  Catholic.  She  would  not  admit 
them  to  be  true.  Some  weeks  later,  I  met  her  again, 
and  she  told  me  that  she  believed  that  I  was  right ; 
that  she  had  heard  such  sentiments  expressed  by  Le- 
gitimist ladies,  that  she  w^as  satisfied  that  there  was 
an  influential,  if  not  a  large,  class  of  Ultramontanes,  to 
whom  the  death  of  the  Archbishop  was  not  unwelcome. 
He  has  been  succeeded  by  a  noted  Ultramontane. 

Meantime  the  army  was  being  rapidly  reorganized. 
The  Imperial  Guard,  and  other  corj)s  dJelite^  had 
returned  from  Germany,  where  they  had  been  pris- 
oners of  war.  Marshal  MacMahon  took  command. 
Wliy  M.  Thiers  did  not  then  assault  the  city,  and 
carry  it,  as  he  undoubtedly  could  have  done,  was  a 
matter  of  surprise  to  every  one,  and  especially  to 
those  whose  lives  and  property  lay  at  the  mercies  of 
the  Commune.  But  Thiers  had  built  the  fortifica- 
tions of  Paris.  He  looked  upon  them  with  a  pater- 
nal eye.  To  him  they  were  not  like  other  men's 
fortifications.  They  were  impregnable  to  ordinary 
assault,  and  could  only  be  taken  by  regular  ap- 
proaches. How  I  wished  that  Guizot  had  built 
them  !  We  might  have  been  saved  a  month  of  dan- 
ger, loss,  and  intense  anxiety. 

12 


266  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

On  mj  weekly  visit  to  Paris  I  had  a  better  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  the  progress  of  events  than  if  I 
had  staid  there  without  interruption,  while  my  resi- 
dence of  three  days  gave  me  ample  occasion  to  ap- 
preciate the  full  pleasures  of  the  bombardment.  It 
must  always  be  a  mystery  why  the  French  bombard- 
ed so  persistently  the  quarter  of  the  Arch  of  Tri- 
umph— the  West  End  of  Paris — the  quarter  where 
nine  out  of  ten  of  the  inhabitants  were  known  friends 
of  the  Government.  They  had  their  regular  hours 
for  this  divertissement.^  for  so  they  seemed  to  regard 
it.  They  took  a  turn  at  it  before  breakfast,  to  give 
them  an  appetite;  and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing I  was  waked  by  the  shells  from  Mont  Yalerien 
bursting  and  crashing  in  the  Place  de  TEtoile. 
About  noon  they  went  at  it  again,  and  when  I  went 
home  to  breakfast  {anglice  lunch),  I  had  to  dodge 
round  corners,  and  take  refuge  behind  stone  col- 
umns. Then,  just  before  sunset,  they  always  favored 
us  with  an  evening  gun,  for  good-night.  The  days, 
too,  were  so  confoundedly  long  at  that  season  of  the 
year  —  April  and  May  —  and  the  weather  provok- 
ingly  fine.  How  I  longed  for  a  delicious  London 
fog! 

I  remember  one  day,  as  I  dodged  behind  a  stone 


B  OMBARDMENT.  267 


pillar  in  the  Kue  de  Presbourg  to  avoid  a  coming 
shell,  the  concierge  called  me  in.  I  went  into  his 
loge^  but  declined  to  go  into  the  cellar,  where  his  wife 
and  children  had  taken  refuge.  He  had  two  loges^ 
and  I  strongly  advised  him  to  move  into  the  unoccu- 
pied one  as  the  safer  of  the  two,  for  I  had  observed 
that  the  shells  generally  passed  easily  enough  through 
one  stone  wall,  but  were  arrested  by  a  second.  He 
took  my  advice.  The  next  day  a  shell  from  one  of 
their  evening  guns  fell  into  the  window  of  the  loge 
he  had  left,  passed  through  the  floor  into  the  cellar, 
and  there  exploded,  and  tore  every  thing  to  pieces. 

My  own  apartment  was  struck  eight  times  by 
fragments  of  shells.  Fortunately  but  one  exploded 
in  the  house,  and  that  two  stories  above  me.  It 
shattered  the  room  into  which  it  fell  fearfully,  but, 
strange  to  say,  did  no  damage  in  the  adjoining 
rooms.  Happily  the  apartment  was  unoccupied. 
The  tenants,  a  few  days  before,  had  taken  advantage 
of  a  law  of  the  Commune  which  released  all  tenants 
from  their  rent  if  they  foimd  it  inconvenient  to  pay 
it,  and  had  decamped,  furniture  and  all. 

Mr.  Washburne  advised  me  to  change  my  resi- 
dence, as  it  was  not  safe.  But  I  felt  that  the  dig- 
nity of  the  great  American  people  would  not  permit 


268  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

even  one  of  its  subordinate  representatives  to  leave 
the  building  while  a  Frenchman  remained  in  it. 
Mr.  Washburne's  practice,  too,  was  not  in  accordance 
with  his  precepts.  If  we  heard  of  any  part  of  Paris 
where  shells  were  likely  to  burst  and  bullets  to  whis- 
tle, Washburne  was  sure  to  have  important  business 
in  that  direction. 

I  was  not  in  my  house  when  the  shell  exploded. 
I  generally  came  home  to  dinner  after  dark.  If 
there  is  any  thing  thoroughly  disagreeable,  it  is  to 
have  shells  tumbling  and  bursting  about  you  when 
you  are  at  dinner.  It  is  bad  enough  at  breakfast, 
but  the  dinner- hour  should  be  sacred  from  vulgar 
intrusion. 

I  recollect  one  day  after  my  midday  breakfast,  as 
I  left  my  house,  I  saw  a  knot  of  men  standing  on  the 
corner  of  the  Avenue  de  I'lmperatrice  and  the  Kue 
de  Presbourg;  I  thought  that  I  would  go  and  see 
what  was  up.  Mont  Yalerien  was  blazing  away  at 
a  great  rate.  As  I  joined  the  group,  one  of  them 
said, "  They'll  fire  at  us  soon,  seeing  half  a  dozen  peo- 
ple liere."  He  had  hardly  said  so,  when  there  was 
a  flash,  and  a  puff  of  smoke,  and  in  a  minute  we 
heard  the  huge  shell  hurtling  through  the  air.  It 
missed  us,  of  course,  and  fell  in  the  Place,  and  ex- 


BOMBARDMENT.  269 


ploded.  All  these  men  were  friends  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  they  were  looking  to  Mont  Yalerien  for 
help,  longing  for  the  troops  to  come  in.  This  was 
the  protection  the  Government  gave  its  friends, 
"the  protection  which  the  vulture  gives  the  lamb, 
covering  and  devouring  it." 

About  once  a  week  I  was  called  in  by  some  neigh- 
boring concierge  to  note  the  damage  done  by  shells 
in  apartments  belonging  to  Americans.  Shells  are 
strangely  capricious.  One  end  of  No.  8  Eue  de 
Presbourg,  opposite  my  own  residence,  was  nearly 
torn  to  pieces ;  the  other  end  was  untouched.  At 
No.  12,  shell  after  shell  penetrated  the  kitchen  de- 
partments, while  the  salons  were  uninjured.  I  was 
called  to  see  the  damage  done  to  the  premier  of 
No.  8,  a  beautiful  apartment  belonging  to  a  New 
York  lady.  A  shell  had  entered  the  salon  and  ex- 
ploded. I  have  never  seen  more  thorough  destruc- 
tion. The  mirrors  were  shattered;  the  floors  and 
ceilings  rent  and  gaping ;  sofas,  chairs,  and  tables  up- 
set and  broken.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  destruction 
stood  a  little  table  with  a  lady's  work-basket  upon  it, 
the  needle  in  the  work,  the  thimble  and  scissors  on 
the  table,  as  if  she  had  left  them  five  minutes  before 
— the  only  objects  unhurt  in  the  room.     It  was  a 


270  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

touching  souvenir  of  peaceful  domestic  life  in  the 
midst  of  the  worst  ravages  of  war. 

Mr.  Washburne  and  Lord  Lyons  complained  to 
Jules  Favre  of  this  persistent  bombardment,  for  the 
property  destroyed  and  the  lives  endangered  were 
largely  American  and  English.  He  replied  that  it 
was  ''  bad  shooting,"  but  he  smiled  as  he  said  so,  and 
evidently  did  not  believe  it  himself.  It  was  sheer 
wantonness,  that  irrepressible  desire  of  artillery-men, 
of  which  I  have  before  spoken,  to  hit  something — 
an  enemy  if  possible,  a  friend  if  no  enemy  offers. 

It  was  singular  that  while  so  many  shells  fell  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  Arch  of  Triumph, 
so  little  serious  injury  was  done  to  it.  I  remarked  a 
curious  circumstance  in  this  connection.  The  bass- 
reliefs  on  the  arch  facing  the  Avenue  de  la  Grande 
Armee  are  Peace  and  War  —  on  the  right,  as  you 
face  the  Arch,  "War ;  on  the  left,  Peace.  War  was 
very  much  injured  \  Peace  was  scarcely  touched. 


REIGN  OF  TERROR.  27; 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Reign  of  Terror.— Family  Quarrels.— The  Alsacians,  etc.,  claim  Ger- 
man  Nationality.— They  leave  Paris  on  our  Passes.— Prisoners  of 
Conmiune.— Priests  and  Xuns.— Fragments  of  Shells.— "  Articles 
de  Paris."— Fearful  Bombardment  of  "Point  du  Jour."— Arrest  of 
Cluseret.— Commune  Proclamations.— Capture  of  Paris.— Troops 
enter  by  Undefended  Gate.— Their  Slow  Advance.— Fight  at  the 

Tuileries  Gardens.— Communist  Women.— Capture  of  Barricades. 

Cruelties  of  the  Troops.— "  Petroleuses."— Absurd  Stories  about 
them.— Public  Buildings  fired.— Destruction  of  Tuileries,  etc.,  etc. 
—Narrow  Escape  of  Louvre.— Treatment  of  Communist  Prisoners. 
— Presents  from  Emperor  of  Germany. 

As  time  passed,  the  puerilities  and  atrocities  of 
the  Commune  kept  equal  pace.  Thej  had  taken  pos- 
session of  the  public  buildings  and  raised  the  red 
flag  upon  them,  suppressing  the  tricolor.  Thej  now 
passed  a  decree  requiring  every  man  to  be  provided 
with  a  carte  cVidentitS ;  this,  thej  said,  was  to  pro- 
tect them  against  Government  spies.  Thej  estab- 
lished a  bureau  of  denunciation,  where  anj  man  who 
had  a  grudge  against  his  neighbor  had  simplj  to  de- 
nounce him  as  a  Yersailles  sympathizer,  and  he  was 
arrested.     Thej  closed  the  churches,  or  turned  them 


272  CAJ/P,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 

into  clubs.  Tliey  arrested  tlie  priests;  tliej  shut 
up  some  of  tlie  conrents,  and  imprisoned  the  nuns. 
They  confiscated  the  gold  and  silver  church  plate, 
and  turned  it  into  coin.  It  was  emphatically  a 
"Reign  of  Terror."  It  was  estimated  that  within 
a  month  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Commune  three 
hundred  thousand  people  left  Paris. 

In  the  clubs  they  denounced  the  Legation.  They 
said  that  Mr.  Washburne  was  about  to  call  in  the 
Germans  at  the  request  of  the  diplomatic  corps. 
They  proposed  to  hang  him,  and  to  banish  the  rest 
of  us.  In  point  of  fact,  I  believe  that  Mr.  Wash- 
burne could  have  called  in  the  German  army  at  any 
time.  He  had  only  to  report  to  General  Manteuffel 
that  the  lives  of  the  Germans  in  Paris  were  in  dan- 
ger, and  that  he  found  himself  unable  to  protect 
them,  and  Manteuffel  would  have  occupied  Paris  at 
once.  But  Mr.  Washburne  never  entertained  an 
idea  of  doing  this. 

Then  the  Commune  began  to  quarrel  among 
themselves.  The  Happy  Family  was  at  variance. 
Strange  as  it  may  appear,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
affair,  there  were  many  earnest,  honest  fanatics  in 
Paris  who  joined  the  movement.  The  first  demands 
of  the  Commune  under  the  influence  of  these  men 


ALSACIANS.  273 


were  not  unreasonable,  in  American  eyes.  They 
asked  that  tliey  might  elect  their  own  prefect,  and 
that  Paris  should  not  be  garrisoned  by  Government 
soldiers.  But  events  soon  outstripped  these  men ; 
and  as  they  found  the  city  given  over  to  organized 
pillage — the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  meeting  in 
secret,  instead  of  in  the  light  of  open  day,  as  they  had 
promised,  and  the  model  republic  of  which  they  had 
dreamed  as  much  a  chimera  as  ever — they  withdrew 
from  the  Government.  Over  twenty  of  them  with- 
drew in  a  body,  and  published  their  reasons  for  do- 
ing so.  But  the  scoundrels  who  now  directed  the 
movement  "cared  for  none  of  these  things."  They 
had  used  these  poor  enthusiasts  while  it  suited  their 
purpose;  now  they  threw  them  overboard,  and  re- 
plied to  their  manifesto  by  removing  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety  as  too  mild,  afflicted  with  scruples, 
and  appointing  one  of  a  bloodier  type,  one  of  its 
members  a  murderer. 

During  all  this  time  the  Legation  was  beset  from 
morning  till  night.  The  Alsacians  and  Lorrains  re- 
siding in  Paris,  whom  the  treaty  had  made  Ger- 
mans, but  who  were  nevertheless  permitted  to  choose 
their  nationality,  had  fully  intended  to  oi)teT  for 
the  French,  and  refused  with  indignation  a  German 

12* 


2  74  CAMP,  COURT,  AND   SIEGE. 


nationality.  But  when  they  found  that  to  remain 
French  condemned  them  to  the  National  Guard, 
while  to  become  German  enabled  them  to  leave  Par- 
is, and  return  to  their  homes,  they  came  in  shoals  to 
the  Legation  to  ask  for  German  passports.  It  was 
a  renewal  of  the  days  before  the  siege,  the  days  of 
the  German  expulsion.  Much  of  Mr.  Washburne's 
time  was  taken  up  in  visiting  German  prisoners,  and 
procuring  their  discharge,  and  sometimes  that  of 
French  priests  and  nuns.  To  procure  the  release  of 
Germans  was  no  very  difficult  task,  for  the  Com- 
mune, as  I  have  said,  had  a  wholesome  fear  of  the 
Teuton,  and  ^'Civis  Germanicus  sinn^''  was  an  open- 
sesame  to  Communist  prison-doors.  But  to  release 
the  poor  French  nuns  was  a  more  difficult  task.  Mr. 
Washburne  effected  it  in  many  instances ;  but  it  re- 
quired all  his  energy  and  decision. 

And  here  I  must  remark  how  much  better  and 
more  humane  it  was  to  do  as  Mr.  Washburne  did — 
to  hold  such  communication  with  the  officials  of  the 
Commune  as  w^as  absolutely  necessary,  and  so  save 
human  life,  and  mitigate  human  suffering — than  to 
sit  with  folded  arms,  and  say,  "  Beally,  I  can  have 
nothing  to  do  with  those  people,"  and  so  let  fellow- 
creatures  suffer  and  perish. 


ECLATS  D'OBUS.  275 


Where  there  is  a  will,  there  is  generally  a  way. 
Mr.  Washburne  was  able  to  assist  and  protect  indi- 
rectly many  persons  whom  he  could  not  claim  as 
American  citizens  or  German  subjects.  We  could 
not  give  a  United  States  passport  to  a  Frenchman, 
but  we  could  make  him  a  bearer  of  dispatches,  give 
him  a  courier's  pass,  and  so  get  him  safely  out  of 
Paris.  Colonel  Bonaparte  escaped  in  this  way.  He 
was  on  the  "  Black  List "  of  the  Commune  for  arrest, 
and  arrest  then  meant  death. 

As  the  siege  progressed,  the  bombardment  became 
more  and  more  severe.  The  beautiful  avenue  of 
the  Champs  Elysees  was  like  a  city  of  the  dead. 
Xot  a  living  creatui'e  was  to  be  seen  upon  it  for 
hours.  From  time  to  time  a  man  would  emerge 
cautiously  from  a  side  street,  gaze  anxiously  up  the 
avenue,  then  start  on  a  run  to  cross  it.  But  the 
"  insatiate  thirst  of  gold  "  is  stronger  than  the  fear 
of  death ;  and,  at  the  worst  of  the  bombardment, 
men  and  boys  were  to  be  seen  lurking  near  the  Arch, 
and  darting  upon  an  exploding  shell  to  secure  its 
fragments  while  they  were  still  too  hot  to  hold.  A 
large  business  was  done  in  these  fragments  after  the 
siege,  as  well  as  in  the  unexploded  shells.  They 
were  sold  as  relics ;  and  the  Parisian  shop  -  keepers 


276  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

mounted  tliein  as  clocks,  fenders,  inkstands,  pen- 
liolders,  and  other  articles  de  Paris. 

A  battery  of  immense  strength  was  at  length 
erected  at  Montretout,  near  St.  Cloud.  It  was  jDrob- 
ably  the  most  powerful  battery  ever  erected  in  the 
world.  It  opened  upon  the  gate  of  the  Point  du 
Jour,  and  in  a  few  days  the  scene  of  devastation  in 
that  quarter  was  fearful.  Xot  a  house  was  left 
standing,  scarcely  a  wall.  Bodies  of  soldiers  of  the 
National  Guard  lay  unburied  among  the  ruins.  The 
fire  was  too  hot  for  their  comrades  to  approach 
them. 

In  the  mean  time  dissension  reigned  among  the 
Communists.  A  new  Committee  of  Public  Safety 
was  appointed.  They  arrested  Cluseret,  their  Min- 
ister of  War,  as  they  had  already  arrested  Lullier. 
They  accused  him  of  treason,  and  it  would  have 
gone  hard  with  him  had  the  Commune  continued 
much  longer  in  power.  They  said  that  "  a  hideous 
plot  had  been  discovered,"  but  that  the  guilty  were 
known,  and  "  their  punishment  should  be  exemplary 
as  their  crime  was  unparalleled."  They  announced 
that  if  the  Commune  fell,  they  would  fire  the  city, 
and  its  beauty  and  its  pride  should  be  buried  with 
them.     They  wrote  forcibly,  those   fellows!      Had 


CAPTURE   OF  PARIS.  277 

they  fought  with  as  much  vigor  as  they  wrote,  the 
world  would  at  least  have  respected  their  courage, 
instead  of  pronouncing  them  as  cowardly  as  they 
were  cruel.  But  their  career  of  crime  and  folly  was 
drawing  to  a  close. 

One  day  a  citizen  of  Paris,  a  civil  engineer,  was 
taking  his  afternoon  walk.  As  he  approached  one 
of  the  gates,  not  far  from  Auteuil,  he  was  surprised 
to  find  no  I^ational  Guard  on  duty.  He  kept  on, 
and  came  to  the  fortifications.  There  was  not  a  de- 
fender in  sight,  while  the  French  troops  lay  outside 
under  cover  watching  for  some  one  to  fire  at.  Why 
they  had  not  discovered  the  absence  of  the  enemy 
can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  general  inefficien- 
cy into  which  the  French  army  had  fallen.  The 
engineer  raised  his  white  handkerchief  on  his  cane, 
and  when  he  saw  that  it  was  observed,  quietly  walk- 
ed through  the  ruins  of  the  work,  crossed  the  fosse, 
and  asked  the  officer  in  command  why  on  earth  he 
did  not  come  in ;  there  was  a  gate,  and  no  one  to  de- 
fend it.  It  occurred  to  the  officer  that  it  might  be 
as  well  to  do  so ;  that  perhaps  that  was  what  he  was 
there  for:  so  he  marched  in  with  his  company, 
and  Paris  was  taken.  It  was  rather  an  anticlimax ! 
After  a  delay  of  months,  and  a  fierce  bombardment, 


278  CAMP,  COURT,  AXD  SIEGE. 

to  enter  Paris  on  the  invitation  of  a  citizen  taking 
liis  afternoon  walk !  It  was  never  known  liow  that 
gate  came  to  be  left  unguarded.  It  was  probably 
owing  to  dissensions  in  the  Commune.  The  battal- 
ion holding  it  had  not  been  relieved,  as  they  expect- 
ed to  be;  so  they  voted  that  they  would  not  stay 
any  longer,  shouldered  their  muskets,  and  marched 
off. 

The  troops  entered  on  the  22d  of  May.  Once 
fairly  in,  the  work  was  comparatively  easy;  but 
they  proceeded  with  great  caution.  It  was  said  that 
Gallifet  urged  that  he  should  take  his  cavalry,  and 
scour  the  city.  I  believe  that  he  could  have  done 
it  on  that  day,  for  the  Communists  were  thoroughly 
demoralized ;  but  it  was  thought  to  be  too  hazard- 
ous an  operation  for  cavalry.  The  next  morning  the 
troops  advanced  unopposed  as  far  as  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde.  I  have  the  word  of  an  American  friend, 
whose  apartment  looked  upon  the  Place,  that  the 
strong  barricade  which  connected  the  Rue  St.  Flo- 
rentin  with  the  Tuileries  Gardens  was  then  unde- 
fended, and  that  if  the  troops  had  advanced  prompt- 
ly they  could  have  carried  it  without  resistance ;  but 
while  they  sent  forward  their  skirmishers,  who  found 
no  one  to  skirmish  with,  and  advanced  with  the  ut- 


CAPTURE   OF  PARIS.  279 

most  caution,  a  battery,  followed  by  a  battalion  of 
the  National  Guard,  galloped  up  from  the  Hotel  de 
Yille.  The  troops  then  began  regular  approaches. 
They  entered  the  adjoining  houses,  passing  from 
roof  to  roof,  and  occupying  the  upper  windows,  till 
finally  they  commanded  the  barricade,  and  fired 
down  upon  its  defenders.  They  filled  barrels  with 
sand,  and  rolled  them  toward  the  barrier.  Each 
barrel  covered  two  skirmishers,  who  alternately  rolled 
the  barrel  and  picked  off  the  defenders  of  the  bar- 
ricade if  they  ventured  to  show  themselves.  My  in- 
formant saw  a  young  and  apparently  good-looking 
woman  spring  upon  the  barricade,  a  red  flag  in  her 
hand,  and  wave  it  defiantly  at  the  troops.  She  was 
instantly  shot  dead.  When  the  work  was  carried,  an 
old  woman  was  led  out  to  be  shot.  She  was  placed 
with  her  back  to  the  wall  of  the  Tuileries  Gardens, 
and,  as  the  firing  party  leveled  their  pieces,  she  put 
her  fingers  to  her  nose,  and  worked  them  after  the 
manner  of  the  defiant  in  all  ages,  or,  as  Dickens  ex- 
presses it,  "as  if  she  were  grinding  an  imaginary 
coffee-mill." 

Many  of  their  strongest  positions  were  abandoned 
by  the  insurgents,  having  been  turned  by  the  troops. 
Those  that  resisted  fell  one  after  the  other,  carried 


28o  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


in  the  way  I  have  described.  Indeed,  I  can  see  no 
possibility  of  a  barricade  holding  out  unless  the  ad- 
jacent houses  are  held  too.  That  at  the  head  of  the 
Paie  St.  Florentin  was  of  great  strength,  a  regular 
work ;  for  the  Communists  had  several  excellent 
engineers  in  their  ranks,  graduates  of  the  military 
schools,  men  who  had  been  disappointed  under  the 
Government  in  not  meeting  with  the  promotion 
they  thought  they  deserved,  and  so  joined  the  Com- 
mune. The  ditch  of  the  barricade  St.  Florentin  was 
about  sixteen  feet  deep.  It  made  a  convenient  bury- 
ing-ground.  The  dead  Communists,  men  and  wom- 
en, were  huddled  into  it,  quicklime  added,  and  the 
fosse  filled  up.  As  the  pleasure  -  seeker  enters  the 
Eue  de  Eivoli  from  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  he 
passes  over  the  bodies  of  forty  or  fifty  miserable 
wretches — most  of  them  scoundrels  of  the  deepest 
dye — but  among  them  some  wild  fanatics,  and  some 
poor  victims  of  the  Commune,  forced  unwillingly 
into  its  ranks. 

Much  must  be  pardoned  to  soldiers  heated  with 
battle,  and  taught  to  believe  every  prisoner  they 
take  an  incarnate  devil.  But  making  all  allowances, 
there  is  no  excuse  for  the  wholesale  butcheries  com- 
mitted by  the  troops.    A  friend  of  mine  saw  a  house 


CRUELTIES  OF  TROOPS.  281 

in  the  Boulevard  Maleslierbes  visited  by  a  squad  of 
soldiers.  They  asked  the  concierge  if  there  were 
any  Communists  concealed  there.  She  answered 
that  there  were  none.  They  searched  the  house,  and 
found  one.  They  took  him  out  and  shot  him,  and 
then  shot  her.  One  of  the  attaches  of  the  Legation 
saw  in  the  Avenue  d'Autin  the  bodies  of  six  chil- 
dren, the  eldest  apparently  not  over  fourteen,  shot  to 
death  as  petroleuses^  suspected  of  carrying  petrole- 
um to  fire  the  houses.  There  was  no  trial  of  any 
kind,  no  drum-head  court-martial  even,  such  as  the 
laws  of  civilized  warfare  require  under  all  circum- 
stances. Any  lieutenant  ordered  prisoners  to  be 
shot  as  the  fancy  took  him,  and  no  questions  were 
asked.  Many  an  innocent  spectator  perished  in 
those  days.  An  English  officer  had  a  narrow  escape. 
He  approached  a  crowd  of  prisoners  halted  for  a 
moment  on  the  Champs  Elysees ;  and  when  they 
moved  on,  the  guard  roped  him  in  with  the  rest,  and 
would  not  listen  to  a  word  of  explanation.  Happily 
he  was  able  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  Marquis 
de  Gallifet  and  explain  his  position.  An  officer  of 
high  rank  who  was  escorting  a  batch  of  prisoners  to 
Yersailles  is  said  to  have  halted  in  the  Bois,  ridden 
down  the  column,  picked  out  those  whose  faces  he 


CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 


particularly  disliked,  and  had  tliem  shot  on  the  spot. 
The  number  of  lives  taken  after  the  defeat  of  the 
Commune  can  never  be  accurately  known ;  but  it 
was  generally  computed  at  the  time  to  exceed  the 
number  of  those  lost  in  both  sieges. 

Petroleum  next  became  the  madness  of  the  hour. 
Every  woman  carrying  a  bottle  was  suspected  of  be- 
ing di  jjetroleuse.  The  most  absurd  stories  were  told 
of  its  destructive  properties.  Organized  bands  of 
women  were  said  to  be  patrolling  the  streets  armed 
with  bottles  of  petroleum.  This  they  threw  into  the 
cellar  windows,  and  then  set  fire  to  it.  The  win- 
dows were  barred,  and  the  cellars  in  Paris  are  uni- 
versally built  in  stone  and  concrete.  How  they  ef- 
fected their  purpose  under  these  circumstances  is  not 
readily  seen.  If  this  was  their  modus  oj^erandi,  they 
were  the  most  inexpert  incendiaries  ever  known. 
The  Commune  should  blush  for  it-  pupils  in  crime. 
I  do  not  believe  in  the  petroleum  story,  and  I  do  not 
think  that  one-third  of  the  population  believed  in  it. 
Yet  such  was  the  power  of  suspicion  in  those  days, 
and  such  the  distrust  of  one's  neighbor,  that  every 
staid  and  sober  housekeeper  bricked  up  his  cellar 
windows,  and  for  weeks  in  the  beautiful  summer 
weather  not  an  o])en  window  was  to  be  seen  on  the 


INC  END  I  A  RISM.  283 


lower  stories.  No  doubt  every  second  man  thought 
it  a  great  piece  of  folly  thus  to  shut  out  light  and 
air  from  his  lower  stories ;  but  if  he  had  not  done 
as  his  neighbors  did,  he  would  have  been  denounced 
by  them  as  2i  petroleux. 

The  leaders  of  the  Commune,  as  I  have  said,  had 
sworn  that,  if  the  city  were  taken,  they  would  blow 
up  the  public  buildings,  and  bury  every  thing  in  a 
common  ruin.  Happily,  their  good -will  exceeded 
their  ability.  They  had  no  time  to  execute  their 
atrocious  projects.  They  burned  the  Tuileries,  the 
Finances,  the  Hotel  de  Yille,  the  Comptes,  the  Ho- 
tel of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and  a  small  portion  of 
the  Palais  Eoyal.  The  only  irreparable  loss  was 
that  of  the  Hotel  de  Yille.  The  Finances,  the 
Comptes,  and  the  Legion  of  Honor  had  no  imper- 
ishable historical  associations  connected  wdth  them. 
The  Tuileries  was  an  old  and  inconvenient  building. 
The  Emperor  had  already  rebuilt  it  in  part.  Plans 
for  reconstructing  the  whole  building  had  been  pre- 
pared and  still  exist,  and  nothing  but  the  want  of 
money  had  prevented  their  being  carried  into  execu- 
tion long  before. 

I  do  not  propose  to  dwell  upon  the  horrors  of  the 
nights  of  the  23d  and  2J:th  of  May,  when  all  Paris 


284  CAMP,  COURT,  AND  SIEGE. 

appeared  to  be  in  flames.  The  view  from  the  high 
ground  upon  which  the  Legation  stands  was  very 
striking.  A  pall  of  smoke  hung  over  the  city  by 
day,  and  pillars  of  fire  lighted  it  by  night.  One  of 
the  most  painful  featm*es  of  those  days  was  the  pro- 
longed suspense.  We  did  not  know  which  of  the 
magnificent  monuments  of  Paris  were  in  flames ;  for 
the  troops  permitted  no  approach,  and  the  most 
startling  rumors  were  current.  The  Louvre  was  at 
one  time  in  danger,  but  happily  escaped. 

I  pass  over,  too,  the  cruelties  of  the  march  of  the 
prisoners  to  Versailles,  and  the  sufferings  they  there 
endured.  These  things  are  written  in  the  annals 
of  the  times,  and  no  good  can  be  done  by  reviving 
them.  Beautiful  France  has  been  sorely  tried  with 
revolutions.     Let  us  hope  that  she  has  seen  the  last. 

In  the  hotel  of  the  German  Embassy  at  Paris  may 
be  seen  several  articles  of  value,  mostly  Sevres  and 
Dresden  china,  which  the  German  Government  de- 
sires to  present  to  Mr.  Washburne,  General  Kead, 
and  some  few  other  officers  of  the  United  States,  in 
token  of  its  gratitude  for  services  rendered  to  Ger- 
man subjects  during  the  war.  These  articles  can  not 
be  received  without  the  permission  of  Congress. 
The   House  promptly  passed  the  joint  resolution. 


PRESENTS  FROM  EMPEROR.  285 

The  Senate  still  hesitates.  Mr.  Fox,  formerly  Assist- 
ant Secretary  of  the  I^avy,  and  the  officers  who  ac- 
companied him  to  Russia,  were  permitted  to  receive 
snch  presents  as  "  the  Emperor  might  see  fit  to 
give  them."  Are  Mr.  Washburne  and  his  subor- 
dinates, who  certainly  rendered  some  services,  and 
suffered  some  hardships,  less  entitled  to  receive  this 
permission  than  Mr.  Fox  and  his  companions,  who 
took  a  monitor  to  Cronstadt  ? 


THE   END. 


Mforaf!mcd 


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Transcript. 

She  looks  out  upon  the  world  with  the  most  entire  enjoyment  of  all  the  good 
that  there  is  in  it  to  enjoy,  and  with  an  enlarged  compassion  for  all  the  ill  that 
there  is  in  it  to  pity.    But  she  never  either  wimpers  over  the  sorrowful  lot  of 

man,  or  snarls  and  chuckles  over  his  follies  and  littlenesses  and  impotence 

Saturday  Review,  London. 

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durable  not  for  the  fashionableness  of  its  pattern,  but  for  the  texture  of  its  stuff. 
—Examiner,  London. 


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